Invoice Master has two kinds of “draft” that should not be confused:
- a saved document draft exists in the application after submission; and
- an unsent form draft is temporary new-invoice or new-quote data stored in the current browser.
The second can rescue work after a reload. It is not a cloud backup.
Product check, July 12, 2026: Local form recovery exists for new invoices and new quotes. It does not cover the bill form.
What the browser saves
As you work in a new-invoice or new-quote form, the frontend stores the form state under a local browser key. Returning to the same form in the same browser profile can restore that state. When the form is submitted successfully or deliberately reset, the corresponding local draft is cleared.
Because the data is local, creating an unsent form draft does not create a backend invoice or quote and does not consume the monthly document entitlement. The plan limit is enforced when a document is actually created.
When recovery helps
Local recovery can help after:
- an accidental tab close;
- a page refresh;
- a browser or device restart that preserves site storage; or
- interrupted navigation on the same device.
Open the same browser profile, return to the new-document form, and inspect the restored fields. Do not submit immediately. Recheck the customer, line items, dates, currency, tax, notes, and total because the underlying business facts may have changed while the form was abandoned.
When the draft may be gone
The unsent form state may not be available after:
- switching to another computer or phone;
- using another browser or browser profile;
- clearing cookies and site data;
- private-browsing cleanup;
- storage eviction or browser policy changes;
- device loss or reset; or
- resetting or successfully submitting the form.
There is no version history or list of named local drafts. One current local invoice form and one current local quote form should be treated as short-term recovery state, not a document archive.
It does not make the application offline-first
Browser storage can exist without a network, but Invoice Master still needs the application and backend to load data, validate limits, create the document, generate server-side output, and complete delivery workflows. Do not promise that an invoice can be created, emailed, or paid offline merely because a partially completed form was cached locally.
For unreliable connectivity, capture notes safely, follow the mobile browser invoicing sequence, finish the form when the service is available, then save the document before treating the work as complete.
Quote conversion can prefill the invoice form
The quote-to-invoice action sends navigation data to the new-invoice form, including parties, related identifiers, project, currency, and line items. That prefill can take precedence over fields from an older local invoice form draft. If the existing unsent invoice matters, finish or save it before beginning quote conversion.
This behavior prevents a stale local form from silently replacing the quote context, but it is another reason not to treat local storage as a multi-draft workspace.
Privacy and shared-device cautions
Local storage remains in the browser profile until it is cleared. On a shared or unmanaged computer, another person using that profile may be able to reopen form data. Avoid entering confidential billing information on public devices, sign out, and clear site data under an appropriate policy.
Local recovery is also outside a normal organization export because the unsent form has not reached the backend. A JSON archive cannot back up data that still exists only in one browser.
A safer draft habit
- Use local autosave as protection during a short editing session.
- Restore only on the same trusted device and browser.
- Review every restored field before submission.
- Save meaningful work as an application document draft.
- Do not clear site data until important forms are saved or discarded.
- Do not rely on local recovery across devices or for offline delivery.
The feature is valuable precisely because its promise is modest: it can recover one interrupted form in the browser where you typed it.