Understanding Invoice Status

Invoices undergo various status changes as they move through the billing process. This guide explains the different invoice statuses and what each status signifies.

For more details on how to create invoices, review this article. To understand payment statuses, refer to this article.

Invoice Review Screen

The invoice review screen provides a detailed view of the invoice, including clinician, member, service date, issued date, charges, payments, and the current status of the invoice. Below is an example of the invoice review screen.

Invoice Statuses

Draft

When an invoice is first created—either by adding a recipient or an item—it is automatically saved as a draft. This allows for ongoing edits and updates until the invoice is finalized.

Actions: The draft status remains until the user manually issues the invoice or deletes it.

Issued

An issued invoice is sent to the recipient for payment. If the recipient is a patient, the invoice becomes available in the SigmaMD Patient App. This status indicates that the invoice is active and awaiting payment.

Actions: Once issued, the invoice can transition to either partially paid, paid, voided, or bad debt.

Partially Paid

If an invoice is paid using multiple methods (e.g., two cards, or cash and ACH), it moves to "Partially Paid" once a portion of the amount is covered. This indicates that a part of the total has been received, but there is still an outstanding balance

Actions: The invoice remains partially paid until the full amount is settled or it transitions to another status like bad debt.

Paid

An invoice is marked as "Paid" when the total amount due has been received in full.

Actions: No further action is required for fully paid invoices, and they are considered closed.

Voided

An invoice can be voided if it was issued in error or if the charges are canceled. Voiding an invoice removes it from active status, ensuring it is not pursued for payment.

Actions: Voided invoices cannot be reactivated, they serve as a record for auditing and reference. Duplication is allowed, so a new draft invoice can be created based on the voided one.

Bad Debt (flag)

When it becomes clear that an invoice is unlikely to be paid, it can be manually flagged as Bad Debt. This flag helps write off the amount as a loss for accounting purposes.

Actions: Bad debt invoices are no longer active for payment collection but remain in the records for financial tracking.

Past Due (flag)

If an invoice remains unpaid or partially paid beyond its due date, it is flagged as "Past Due." This flag serves as a reminder for follow-up actions.

Actions: Past-due invoices can still be paid or partially paid. Additionally, they can be moved to bad debt or voided if necessary.

Automatic and Manual Transitions

• Automatic Transitions: An invoice starts as a draft and remains so until manually issued. Once issued, it can automatically transition to partially paid or paid based on payment activity. Invoices are flagged as past due automatically if not fully paid by the due date.
• Manual Transitions: Users can manually change the status of an invoice to issued, bad debt, or voided as needed.