> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.trykarat.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Saving and resuming invoice drafts

> Save an in-progress invoice as a draft in Karat Banking, resume it later from the Drafts tab, or discard drafts you no longer need.

If you're not ready to send an invoice, you can save it as a draft and come back to finish it later. Drafts stay in your organization until you resume, discard, or delete them, and they don't affect any of your invoice reporting.

## What a draft is

A draft is an in-progress invoice that hasn't been created or sent yet. Unlike a created invoice, a draft:

* Has not been assigned an invoice number or delivered to your recipient
* Doesn't appear in your invoice metrics (Total open, Overdue, Paid)
* Isn't included in [CSV exports](https://help.trykarat.com/invoicing/exporting-invoices.md) or [automatic payment reconciliation](https://help.trykarat.com/invoicing/automatic-invoice-payment-reconciliation.md)
* Never triggers reminder emails

Drafts are shared across your organization, so any teammate with access to invoicing can resume or delete them. Once you finish and create the invoice, the underlying draft is cleaned up automatically.

## Saving a draft

While you're in the invoice creation flow (**Banking > Invoices > Create Invoice**), you have two ways to save your progress:

* **Save & exit**: click the **Save & exit** button in the footer at any point. Your progress is saved as a draft and you're returned to the Invoices page.
* **Close the flow with unsaved changes**: if you try to leave the invoice creation flow with unsaved changes (for example, by clicking away or pressing **Delete**), a confirmation dialog appears. Choose **Save draft** to save your progress, **Discard** to throw the changes away, or **Keep editing** to stay in the flow.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Drafts capture the values you've committed by moving between wizard steps. Anything you've typed on the current step but haven't confirmed with **Continue** is not saved. Before you save & exit, click **Continue** on the step you're working on to make sure your latest changes are captured.

## Previewing a draft before saving

On the Review and send step, the PDF preview panel includes a **Download preview** button so you can share the invoice for internal review before it's sent. A note above the preview reminds you that nothing is saved until you save the draft or finish creating the invoice.

## Finding your drafts

Drafts live on a dedicated tab on the Invoices page.

1. Go to **Banking > Invoices**.
2. Click the **Drafts** tab. If you have any saved drafts, the tab shows the total count (for example, **Drafts (3)**).

Each row shows the invoice number (or "No number yet" if you haven't set one), the recipient, the running total, and when the draft was last edited. If you have more drafts than fit on a page, use the pagination controls at the bottom of the table.

## Resuming a draft

From the Drafts tab, click a draft to reopen it in the invoice creation flow. Karat pre-fills every field you'd already saved and drops you back on the last step you completed so you can pick up where you left off.

You can also link directly to a draft using its ID:

```
/banking/invoices/new?draftId=<draftId>
```

If the draft has been deleted or can't be loaded, Karat starts a new, empty invoice and shows a message explaining what happened.

## Discarding or deleting a draft

You can throw away a draft in two ways:

* **From the creation flow**: click **Delete** in the footer. If you're editing a saved draft, choose **Discard draft** in the confirmation dialog to permanently remove it.
* **From the Drafts tab**: open the **⋯** menu on any draft row and select **Delete**. You'll be asked to confirm before the draft is removed.

Deleting a draft is permanent: you can't restore it afterward. Drafts are also removed automatically once you finish creating the invoice they were part of.

*<sub>Karat is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking and Card services provided by Grasshopper Bank, N.A., First Internet Bank of Indiana, and Cross River Bank, Members FDIC.</sub>*