Handbook / Reference
Undoing things
The general rule: anything nobody has seen can be edited, and anything somebody has agreed to gets voided rather than deleted.
The three ways out
| Way out | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Edit | Changes the record in place | Nothing has left the building yet |
| Void | Keeps the record and its number, marks it dead | It went out, or something references it |
| Delete | Removes it entirely | It was created in error and nothing points at it |
Numbering is never reused. A voided change order keeps its number, so a client asking about CO-2026-0003 gets an answer rather than a different document.
The refusals, and what to do instead
| You tried to | It refuses because | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| Delete a converted lead | It became a project | Archive it |
| Edit an accepted estimate's lines | The client agreed to those numbers | Duplicate it as a revision |
| Delete an estimate with a proposal | The proposal depends on it | Delete the proposal first |
| Edit a signed proposal | It is the contract | Raise a change order |
| Delete a signed proposal | It is the contract record | Nothing - it stays |
| Delete an approved change order | It is part of the contract | Void it |
| Change invoice lines after a payment | Money came in against those lines | Void it and reissue |
| Delete an invoice with payments | The payments reference it | Void it |
| Reprice an accepted purchase order | The vendor agreed to it | Raise a revision |
| Delete an order with vendor invoices | The invoices reference it | Void it |
| Delete a submitted pay application | Only drafts can be deleted | Record it as rejected |
| Regenerate a schedule of values | Applications reference the lines | Edit the lines instead |
| Edit somebody else's note | It is theirs | Reply to it |
| Deactivate yourself | Somebody has to be able to get back in | Ask another administrator |
| Delete a built-in role | It is part of the system | Edit its permissions |
What genuinely cannot be undone: deleting a project takes its work orders, photographs, logs and invoices with it. Deleting a file removes it from disk. Sending an email cannot be recalled. And nothing unsigns a signed proposal.