Deleting Test Invoices and Starting Fresh with Opening Balances

If you tried the system at the beginning with test invoices and now want to erase them and start fresh with the real opening balances, this guide explains step by step: how to delete the old data, what may prevent you from deleting, and how to enter the opening balances the right way.

Before You Start: Is E-Invoicing Enabled?

This is the most important point, because it determines whether you can delete at all:

Country	Can the Test Invoices Be Deleted?
Saudi Arabia	If the Saudi e-invoicing app is enabled, no issued invoice can be deleted even if it wasn’t sent to the authority. The solution is issuing a credit note or a refund invoice on it. If you haven’t enabled the app yet, delete the test invoices before enabling.
Egypt	Invoices that weren’t sent to the Tax Authority can be deleted. Sent ones cannot be deleted.
Jordan	Invalid or unsent invoices can be deleted. Valid ones cannot be deleted.
UAE	There is no restriction on deletion.

Step 1: Delete the Returns and Notes First

An invoice linked to a return or a note cannot be deleted, and the message «Invoice no. ### cannot be deleted because it is linked to returns, credit notes, or debit notes. Please delete the linked documents first.» appears. So start with them:

1. Open Refund Invoices, select all the test returns and delete them.
2. Open Credit Notes and delete the test credit notes.
3. If you use debit notes, delete them as well.

Step 2: Delete the Approved Stock Requisitions (If You Use Them)

If stock requisitions are enabled, and the invoice’s requisition was approved, the invoice won’t be deleted before the requisition is deleted.

1. Open Stock Requisitions.
2. Search for the requisitions linked to the test invoices and delete them.

Step 3: Delete the Invoices

1. Open Sales Invoices.
2. Select the test invoices from the boxes next to them (or select all).
3. From the actions choose Delete.
4. A confirmation message will appear; click Yes.

When an invoice is deleted, the system deletes with it its accounting entries and its payments’ entries, returns the stock, and recalculates the client’s balance. You don’t need to delete the payments one by one.

If the System Refuses to Delete an Invoice

The Message	The Cause	The Solution
«You cannot add, edit, or delete a movement on this day ####, within a closed period»	The invoice date is in a closed period	Open the period from Fiscal Years
A message about a closed session	The invoice is from the point of sale and its session is closed	Reopen the session or delete the invoice after canceling the session confirmation
A message about the approved stock requisition	The requisition was approved	Delete the requisition first (Step 2)
«You cannot remove the movement that falls in a commission record that is approved, rejected, or paid»	The invoice is inside a commission record	Reopen the commission record
A message from the Zakat Authority or the Tax Authority	A locked e-invoice	Issue a credit note instead of deleting

Step 4: Permanently Delete from the Trash

Deleted invoices don’t disappear directly, but go to the Trash for 90 days during which you can restore them, then they are deleted automatically. If you want to get rid of them now:

1. From the invoices list click the three dots and choose Trash.
2. Select the invoices and choose Permanent Delete, and confirm. This action cannot be undone.

Step 5: Delete the Rest of the Test Data

• Purchase invoices and their returns in the same way.
• Expenses and incomes.
• Manual journal entries. (Automatic entries are deleted by deleting their source.)
• Test clients and suppliers after deleting all their movements.
• Test products; a product that has stock movements can’t be deleted until its movements are deleted.

Step 6: Renumber the Invoices

Deleting invoices doesn’t return the numbering to the start. If you want your real invoices to start from number 1:

1. Permanently delete the test invoices from the trash first.
2. Open Invoice Auto Number Settings.
3. Change the Next Number to 1 (or the number you want), and save.
4. Repeat the same for the rest of the documents (returns, purchase invoices…) from the same page.

Step 7: Set the Start Date

Choose a single date from which you start the actual work, and record all the opening balances with the date of the first day of this period (or the last day of the previous period). For example: if you start work on January 1, record the balances with the date of January 1.

Make sure from Fiscal Years that you have a fiscal year that includes this date, and don’t record any balance before the start of the first fiscal year.

Step 8: Enter the Opening Balances

Client Balances

A positive balance means the client owes you.

1. To add the balance when creating the client: enable Opening Balance from Client Settings, then you will find in the client form the Opening Balance and Opening Balance Date fields.
2. For an existing client: open the client’s page and click Add Opening Balance, and enter the amount, the date, and the currency.
3. For a large number of clients: use Import Clients and add the opening balance and its date columns in the file.

The entry: debit the client’s account / credit Opening Balance.

Supplier Balances

In the same way from the supplier’s page or its add form or the import. A positive balance means you owe the supplier. The entry: debit Opening Balance / credit the supplier’s account.

Stock Balances

1. Open Stock Addition Requisition.
2. Choose the warehouse and the start date.
3. In the Sub-Account choose the Opening Balance account.
4. Add the products, the quantities, and the unit price (the purchase cost).
5. Save.

Treasuries, Banks, and the Rest of the Accounts

1. Open Add Entry.
2. Choose the start date and write “Opening entry” in the description.
3. For each treasury or bank: debit the treasury account with the balance.
4. Add the rest of the balances (loans, capital, prepaid expenses…) in the same entry.
5. Make the difference in the Opening Balance account or the capital account as suits your accountant, then save.

Fixed Assets

Add each asset from Assets with its purchase date and value, and choose in Cash Account the Opening Balance account so its price isn’t deducted from the treasury.

Step 9: Review

1. Open the trial balance with the start date, and make sure the Opening Balance account’s balance is logical (approximately equals the net equity).
2. Review the account statement of a number of clients and suppliers.
3. Review the inventory balances report.

After that you can close the previous period from Fiscal Years so the balances aren’t edited by mistake.

Frequently Asked Questions

I deleted the invoices but the next number is still big

Deleting doesn’t change the numbering. Change the Next Number from the numbering settings after the permanent deletion.

I am in Saudi Arabia and e-invoicing is enabled. How do I cancel the test invoices?

By issuing a credit note or a refund invoice with the same value for each invoice. They cannot be deleted.

Can I restore an invoice I deleted by mistake?

Yes, from the trash within 90 days with the Restore button, unless you deleted it permanently.

I want to erase the whole account and start from zero

Contact the support team to return the account to its initial state.