Lock, closing, archiving and deleting cases

Goal. Understand the lock that prevents working a case without a contract or deposit, close a finished case, archive one that does not go ahead and delete only when appropriate.

Prerequisites. "Archive cases" to archive and restore; "Delete cases" to delete, which by default only the Administrator has. The lock is configured by an administrator in "Settings" › "Cases".

The contract and deposit lock

In "Settings" › "Cases", the "Requirements to work a case" section has two independent boxes: "Require a signed contract before moving a case to work or closing" and "Require a deposit or full payment before moving a case to work or closing". Each company decides whether to require both, one or neither; changing it locks or unlocks existing cases instantly.

With the lock on, a case without a signed contract or a paid deposit is "Locked": it shows a padlock in the list and on the board, counts under "Awaiting contract/deposit" and cannot move to work or closing stages. The page explains it with "Locked: A signed contract and a paid deposit are required to move to the work stage.", or the specific reason when only one of the two is required.

A case unlocks by itself once the contract is signed and the deposit or full payment is recorded as paid, in the case's own quote, contract and payments section.

Closing a case

A case is closed by moving it to the last stage of its workflow, from the "Stage" selector or from the board. The CRM stores the closing date, removes the case from the active ones and shows it under the "Closed" filter with the "Closed" badge.

Archiving and restoring

Archiving removes from the active views a case that does not go ahead, for example because the client withdrew, without deleting anything: payments, contracts and documents are kept. It is reversible.

1. On the page, click "Archive".
2. Type the "Reason". It is required; without it the CRM replies "Enter a reason to archive.".
3. Confirm. The CRM reports "Case archived." and the page shows "Case archived on …" with the reason.

Archived cases are listed with the "Archived" filter. The "Unarchive" button returns them to the active ones with the notice "Case restored.".

Deleting

"Delete case" removes the case with its quotes, contracts, payments, documents and notes, and cannot be undone. It is only allowed on cases without payments or contracts; for the others the CRM replies "This case has payments or contracts: archive it instead of deleting (legal/tax retention).".

Troubleshooting

• The case stays locked with the contract signed. The deposit is missing, or the payment is recorded as pending. Mark it as paid in the case's payments section.
• You want to close a case without going through every stage. Move it straight to the last stage from the "Stage" selector.
• "Enter a reason to archive". The reason is required to keep a record; type it and confirm.
• "Delete case" is missing. Your role lacks "Delete cases".