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Orders

Cancelling, Archiving & Deleting Orders

When to cancel, archive or delete an order, how each one works and how to undo it.

Which One Do You Need?

There are three ways to take an order out of your day-to-day list. They do very different things, so it is worth picking the right one.

Action

What it does

Use it when

Cancel

Stops the order being fulfilled and tries to cancel it on the channel and with the courier.

The customer no longer wants the order, or it cannot be sent.

Archive

Moves the order out of the main list. Nothing about the order changes.

The order is finished and you want a tidy list.

Delete

Removes the order completely. Only drafts can be deleted.

You created a draft by mistake.

Example: a customer cancels an order before it is picked, so you cancel it. A draft you started for a phone order is no longer needed, so you delete it. Last month's despatched orders are archived for you automatically.

Cancelling Orders

One order

Open the order and click Cancel Order.

Several orders

  1. In Orders, tick the orders you want to cancel.

  2. In the bar at the bottom, choose Actions > Cancel Orders and confirm.

Actions menu with Cancel Orders, Archive and Delete

What happens on the channel and with the courier

When you cancel, Helm tries to cancel the order on the sales channel too, and to cancel the shipment with the courier if a label has been created.

  • If it works, Helm confirms the order or shipment is cancelled. It is still worth checking the channel, and contacting your courier to confirm a cancelled shipment.

  • If it does not work, you see Unable to Cancel. You can still click Cancel Anyway to cancel the order in Helm, but you then need to cancel it on the channel yourself (use Go to the channel) and contact the courier about any shipment.

Warning: if you use Cancel Anyway and do not cancel on the channel, the channel may still show the order as open and the customer may expect it to arrive.

Undoing a cancellation

Cancelled the wrong order? Open it and click Undo Cancellation to bring it back into your workflow.

Archiving Orders

Archiving keeps your orders list focused on the work in hand. Archived orders are not deleted: you can still find them and restore them.

Automatic archiving

Orders are archived automatically 30 days after they are despatched. You do not need to do anything.

Archiving orders yourself

  1. In Orders, tick the orders you want to archive.

  2. Choose Actions > Archive and confirm.

Only orders whose status allows it are archived. If some of your selection cannot be archived, Helm tells you how many can before you confirm.

Warning: archiving an order that has not been sent may leave it unfulfilled. Only archive orders that are finished or no longer needed.

Finding and restoring archived orders

  1. In Orders, click the archive icon next to Filters. The list now shows your Archived Orders.

  2. Find the order and click the three dots in the Actions column.

  3. Choose Restore.

The order goes back into your main orders list. Click the archive icon again to return to your live orders.

Archived Orders view in the orders list

Deleting Orders

Only Draft orders can be deleted. Once an order has been saved as a New Order or has come in from a channel, cancel or archive it instead.

  1. In Orders, tick the drafts you want to remove.

  2. Choose Actions > Delete and confirm.

If your selection includes orders that are not drafts, Helm tells you how many can be deleted and leaves the rest alone.

Warning: deleting cannot be undone.

Best Practices

  • Cancel on the channel too. Whenever Helm cannot cancel automatically, cancel the order on the channel straight away so your stock and the customer's view stay in step.

  • Add a note when you cancel so your team knows why.

  • Let automatic archiving do the work. You rarely need to archive despatched orders by hand.

FAQ

Only drafts can be deleted. For any other order, use Cancel if it should not be sent, or Archive if it is finished.

Despatched orders are archived after 30 days. Click the archive icon next to Filters to see them.

Yes. Open the order and click Undo Cancellation.

Archiving only hides orders from the main list. Check your report's settings if you need archived records included.

Use cancel, archive and delete for the right jobs and your orders list stays accurate, tidy and easy to work from.