This article applies to Aiwyn Practice.
Every draft invoice moves through the same four steps before it reaches a client. Each step has a role, a status, and a default person who fills that role.
The four steps
| Step | Role | Draft status while at this step | Who fills the role by default | What moves the draft on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Prepare | Biller | In Progress | The person who creates the draft. For auto-generated drafts, see Auto-generated drafts below. | Submit for review. The biller can also skip ahead to approval or to Finalized. |
| 2. Review | Reviewer | Pending Review | The project manager | Approve (moves to Pending Approval), or return to the biller |
| 3. Approve | Approver | Pending Approval | The project partner | Approve (moves to Finalized) |
| 4. Send | Sender | Finalized | The biller, if they have permission to send. Otherwise, the firm's default sender. | Send now, or schedule delivery |
After a draft is sent, or its scheduled send date arrives, it leaves Draft Invoices and moves to the Invoices module.
How default assignments are made
When a draft is created, Aiwyn fills all four roles automatically. You can change any of them on the draft afterward.
- Biller: The person who creates the draft.
- Reviewer: The project manager on the project being billed.
- Approver: The project partner on the project being billed.
- Sender: The biller, if their permissions allow them to send invoices. If not, the sender is the default sender your firm set up during implementation.
The project's partner and manager fill the approval roles, not the client's. A client's relationship partner may not be the person who approves a bill. The partner and manager on the project become the approver and reviewer. If a bill is going to the wrong reviewer or approver, check the partner and manager on the project.
If the project has no manager or partner, the biller fills the empty role.
Auto-generated drafts
Aiwyn creates auto-generated drafts on a schedule, so there is no person who "created" them. Your firm chooses how the biller is picked during setup:
| Biller method | Who becomes the biller | If that person is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Reviewer (the usual setting for new firms) | The client's manager | The firm's fallback biller |
| Approver | The client's partner | The firm's fallback biller |
| Static | One named staff member for every auto-generated draft | — |
The reviewer, approver, and sender on an auto-generated draft follow the same rules as any other draft.
What is fixed and what your firm can change
| Fixed for every firm | Your firm can change |
|---|---|
| There are always four steps: Prepare, Review, Approve, Send. | Who holds each role on a specific draft |
| Each status belongs to one role: In Progress to Biller, Pending Review to Reviewer, Pending Approval to Approver, Finalized to Sender. | Whether a draft goes through every step or skips review, approval, or both |
| Where default reviewers and approvers come from: the project's manager and partner | The partner and manager on each project |
| A draft can't be sent in one click. It must be Finalized first, then sent or scheduled. | The default sender, and how auto-generated drafts pick a biller |
Rules that apply at every step
- Steps can be skipped, but roles can't be removed. A biller can send a draft straight to Pending Approval, which skips the reviewer. They can also move it straight to Finalized.
- Sending is always a separate action. Moving a draft to Finalized doesn't send it. The sender has to open the finalized draft and choose Send or Schedule. Scheduling is only available on a Finalized draft.
- Only the current holder can edit a draft. A draft in someone else's queue opens as read-only. Anyone who holds a role on that draft can take it back into their own queue. For example, a biller who takes a draft back returns it to In Progress so they can edit it.
- Roles can be reassigned on the draft. For example, when an approver is out of the office, someone can put a colleague in the approver role. Your permissions control whether you can hand off only your own role or change any role on any draft. See Centralized and decentralized billing permission models.
- Every change is recorded. Status changes, skipped steps, and reassignments all appear in the draft's activity log. They stay there after the invoice is sent.
Related
- Draft invoice status and available actions reference
- Move a draft invoice through review
- Draft invoice approval permissions reference
- Centralized and decentralized billing permission models
- Send a finalized invoice to the client