Ways to Complete a Draft Order

When you build a draft order, the last decision is how to finish it, and the draft order form gives you a few ways to do that. Once you add a product, the Payment section calculates the total and shows the options for completing the order. This article explains those options. Create Draft Order builds the order itself, adding products and setting the customer.

You reach these on the draft order form, which you open with Create order on the Orders overview under Orders > Drafts.

Before you begin

• Your role includes Edit orders.
• The products you want to add already exist in your catalog, or you are ready to add a custom item instead.
• Open Orders > Drafts in the admin sidebar, then select Create draft order.

The completion options appear once there is a product

Until you add a product, the Payment section shows the total as zero and reads that you should add a product to calculate the total and view the payment options. Once a product is on the draft, the Payment section shows the Subtotal and Total and the ways to complete the order.

The ways to finish a draft

The Payment section offers these choices:

• Save. Save the order as a draft to come back to later. It stays in the Drafts list as an open draft, and nothing is charged.
• Send invoice. Email the customer a link to pay for the order. Use this when the customer will pay themselves. See Send an Invoice.
• Mark as paid. Record that the order is already paid, for example when you took the payment in person or by bank transfer, which turns it into a paid order. See Mark an Order as Paid.
• Payment due later. Set payment terms for the order so it is created now and paid later, which suits a business customer on terms.

Which one to choose

• Choose Save when the order is not final and you want to keep working on it.
• Choose Send invoice when the customer will pay online from a link.
• Choose Mark as paid when the money has already reached you.
• Choose Payment due later when you are extending payment terms to the customer.

Best practices

• Add the products first, since the payment options only appear once the order has a total.
• Only Mark as paid once the money has arrived, so you do not record a payment you do not have.
• Save the draft if you are interrupted, rather than losing the work you have entered.

Common mistakes

• Looking for the payment options on an empty draft, which does not show them until a product is added.
• Marking a draft as paid before payment, which records money you have not received.
• Sending an invoice when the customer has already paid, when you should mark it as paid instead.

Next steps

• Create Draft Order
• Send an Invoice
• Mark an Order as Paid

Related articles

• Draft Orders
• When to Use a Draft Order