What the three statuses mean
When Datamolino exports a Bill to Xero, it sends the document with a status. The status tells Xero what stage of its own workflow the bill should land in. Datamolino offers the three statuses Xero accepts for bills:
Draft - the bill arrives in Xero as a draft. It is not yet visible in approval or payment lists and can still be edited freely in Xero.
Awaiting Approval - the bill arrives in Xero waiting for someone to approve it. In Xero, this status is the gate between draft and posting to the ledger.
Awaiting Payment - the bill is approved and posted to the ledger in Xero. It now sits in the list of bills waiting to be paid.
These labels match what you see inside Xero - Datamolino uses the same names to keep things consistent.
👉 Do I have to use all three?
No. Most teams settle on one status that fits their workflow - for example, "Draft" if a person always reviews bills inside Xero, or "Awaiting Payment" if Datamolino is the only place documents are reviewed and you want them posted as soon as they arrive.
Where to set the status on a document
The status lives on the document in Datamolino, in the Supplier panel. When you open a document, look for the Approval status drop-down under the supplier details, next to the "Export to: Bills" field. The drop-down lists "Draft", "Awaiting Approval", and "Awaiting Payment".
You can change the status any time before exporting. If you don't change it, the document uses your folder's default status (see "Setting a default status" below).
How the status affects re-exporting
The status you choose at export time has one important consequence: only drafts can be re-exported from Datamolino.
If a document was exported as Draft or Awaiting Approval, you can edit it in Datamolino and re-export it. The bill in Xero is updated.
If a document was exported as Awaiting Payment, Datamolino cannot re-export it. Xero treats the bill as past the draft stage, and Datamolino will return an error if you try.
👉 Why can't I re-export an Awaiting Approval or Awaiting Payment bill?
Once a bill is approved or marked as paid in Xero, Xero locks parts of it - for example, the approval state, posting date, and links to payments. Datamolino respects that lock and stops you from overwriting a bill that may already be in Xero's approval or payment workflow.
👉 The bill needs to change after it was exported as Awaiting Payment or approved in Xero. What do I do?
Delete the bill in Xero, delete the document in Datamolino, and re-upload it. The new document can then be exported as needed.
Setting a default status for the folder
If you usually export with the same status, set it once at folder level so every new document arrives with that status pre-selected. You can still override the status on individual documents.
To set a default for new suppliers in the folder:
Open Folder Menu -> Accounting & Automation -> Integration settings and set the default value for Approval status. From then on, new documents in that folder come in with the default already filled in.
To set a default for existing suppliers in the folder:
Open Folder Menu -> Accounting & Automation -> Automation contacts - Click on Mass edit supplier settings, select the Export endpoint as "Bills" and then select the Invoice status.
👉 What happens if a document has no status of its own?
Datamolino uses the folder default. The per-document status takes priority - the default only applies when the document field is empty.
👉 Can different suppliers have different default statuses?
Yes. Supplier automation rules can carry their own status, so a supplier whose bills should always go in as Awaiting Payment can be set up separately from the folder default.
To set a supplier default:
Open a document of the supplier.
Click on Automation.
Select the Export endpoint: Bills.
Select the Invoice status.
Save or click on Save & apply to all ready to export bills.
Where statuses do not apply
The Approval status drop-down is for the Bills export path only. If a document is exported as a Bank Transaction instead of a Bill, the status does not apply - Xero handles bank transactions through a different workflow that does not have Draft / Awaiting Approval / Awaiting Payment stages.
Sales documents (Invoices and Credit Notes) use the same three statuses on the Xero side. The dropdown labels are identical, but this article focuses on Bills.
Learn more about Xero export types: Bill vs Bank Transaction.
Learn more about Xero export errors and how to fix them.