# Cancel vs amend
Decide between cancelling an invoice (void) and issuing a corrective invoice, two operations with different fiscal weight.
The AEAT VeriFactu spec exposes three distinct fix operations: **void** (*anulación*), ***subsanación*** (replacing a record with a corrected one) and **corrective invoice** (*factura rectificativa*). They look similar but mean very different things. Pick the wrong one and you either misreport or burn an invoice number.
## The 30-second decision
Void only what should never have been issued; correct everything else. Every situation, one row each, is in the table [Void or correct](/rules/void#void-or-correct).
| Operation | Use when | Fiscal weight |
|---|---|---|
| **Void** | [VOI-001 · Void only an invoice that should never have been issued](/rules/void#voi-001) | A cancellation record is sent to AEAT, linked to the original |
| **Corrective invoice** | [COR-001 · Wrong data on an issued invoice is fixed with a corrective](/rules/corrective#cor-001) | A new invoice, with its own record, corrects the original |
| ***Subsanación*** | [REC-010 · Subsanación is only for errors that need no corrective](/rules/records#rec-010) | The record is replaced by a corrected one; no new invoice |
## Void (*anulación*) [#anulación-void]
To void an invoice, call [`POST …/invoices/{invoice_id}/void`](/invoices/voidCompanyInvoice) with a `reason`: the invoice becomes `VOIDED` at once. A void is only for an invoice issued by mistake — the operation never took place, it was a test, or it is an accidental duplicate. Once the invoice has been sent or paid, confirm it with `issued_in_error: true`. The request rules and which invoices can be voided are in [Invoice lifecycle](/guides/invoice-lifecycle#voiding-and-correcting); this section covers what reaches AEAT.
What happens:
1. The invoice's commercial status moves to `VOIDED`.
2. BeeL. submits a **cancellation record** (*registro de anulación*) to AEAT, separate from the original registration record (*registro de alta*).
3. AEAT processes the cancellation and BeeL. updates the invoice's `verifactu.submission_status` to reflect the cancellation response. The cancellation is also a record of its own — see [Did AEAT accept the cancellation?](#did-aeat-accept-the-cancellation) below.
What you give up:
- The number stays used: a voided invoice keeps it, and the next invoice takes a new one (see [Series and numbering](/guides/series-and-numbering#the-number-is-assigned-when-you-issue)).
- The original registration record stays in AEAT's records, with the cancellation linked to it.
### Did AEAT accept the cancellation?
The invoice's `verifactu` block summarises the **registration**: once you void, its `submission_status` moves with the cancellation, but `invoice_hash`, `registration_number` and `registered_at` keep describing the registration record. To see each record with its own status, list the invoice's VeriFactu records with [List the VeriFactu records of an invoice](/invoices/listCompanyInvoiceVerifactuRecords):
```bash
curl "https://app.beel.es/api/v1/companies/{company_id}/invoices/{invoice_id}/verifactu-records" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $BEEL_API_KEY"
```
```json
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"records": [
{
"id": "2b1605c5-cdc4-45c1-b007-5261342947ec",
"operation": "REGISTRATION",
"submission_status": "ACCEPTED",
"invoice_hash": "1863E77D540083E4259F4AF44322E16B962CB5D72C2F949AB2B30FA83E93FF84",
"registration_number": "094365f5-9637-40e9-851a-4e964a939b0b",
"registered_at": "2026-09-19T09:27:44.490799Z",
"qr_url": "https://prewww2.aeat.es/wlpl/TIKE-CONT/ValidarQR?nif=B27534239&numserie=S-2026-0001&fecha=19-09-2026&importe=121.00"
},
{
"id": "582ed3b9-51e1-48a0-b725-137ae5b2efb1",
"operation": "VOID",
"submission_status": "PENDING",
"registration_number": "e2e5f3db-999a-4c9f-afd5-7a7a059ca384",
"registered_at": "2026-09-19T09:28:15.523675Z"
}
]
},
"meta": { "timestamp": "2026-09-19T09:28:16Z", "request_id": "ac4654e8df3bb20e339c4086fadc6725" }
}
```
Records come ordered by `registered_at`, the registration first. The `VOID` record answers the question: `PENDING` while AEAT has not replied, `VOIDED` once it accepts the cancellation, `REJECTED` if it refuses it, with `error_message` giving the reason and `error_code` carrying AEAT's code when AEAT gave one. `invoice_hash` and `qr_url` only travel on `REGISTRATION` records. `registration_number` is BeeL.'s identifier (a UUID) for the record, not an AEAT code, and `registered_at` is when the record was created. Each record's `id` is the `verifactu_registration_id` you receive in `verifactu.status.updated`, so a webhook can be matched to the exact record it reports on.
You don't have to poll for it. `verifactu.status.updated` is sent for the cancellation record too, and its `operation` says which record changed: `REGISTRATION` for the invoice's registration, `VOID` for its cancellation. A `VOID` event with `new_status: VOIDED` is AEAT accepting the cancellation; with `REJECTED`, `error_code` and `error_message` say why.
```json
{
"type": "verifactu.status.updated",
"data": {
"invoice_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
"invoice_number": "2026-0042",
"verifactu_registration_id": "7c9e6679-7425-40de-944b-e07fc1f90ae7",
"operation": "VOID",
"previous_status": "PENDING",
"new_status": "VOIDED"
}
}
```
**Voiding while the registration is still `PENDING`.** You can void an invoice before AEAT has answered the registration record. The cancellation is sent once the registration is accepted, so until then the list shows only the `REGISTRATION` record; the `VOID` record appears when the cancellation goes out, and reaches `VOIDED` when AEAT accepts it. In sandbox this takes a few minutes. If AEAT ends up rejecting the registration instead, no cancellation is sent at all.
**Voiding an invoice that never reached AEAT sends nothing.** If the registration was refused before reaching AEAT, abandoned, or rejected by AEAT, there is no record there to cancel: the invoice becomes `VOIDED` in BeeL., no `VOID` record appears, and `verifactu.submission_status` keeps the registration's outcome. See [Handling AEAT rejections](/verifactu/handling-rejections#fixing-the-invoice).
> **Rules that apply here:** [VOI-001 · Void only an invoice that should never have been issued](/rules/void#voi-001) · [VOI-004 · An emailed or paid invoice is voided only confirming it was issued by mistake](/rules/void#voi-004) · [VOI-003 · A void adds a cancellation record; the original stays](/rules/void#voi-003)
## Corrective invoice (*rectificativa*) [#rectificativa-corrective]
A new invoice is issued, referencing the original, with its own AEAT `tipo_factura` (`R1`–`R5`) and its own registration record (no cancellation record). The original is **never erased** from AEAT. Request shapes, codes and every scenario are in [Corrective invoices](/verifactu/corrective-invoices).
Use a corrective invoice for:
- Wrong amount / IVA rate
- Wrong customer NIF, name or address, when the invoice went to the right customer (`R4`, no lines — see [Correcting the recipient's data](/verifactu/corrective-invoices#scenario-4--correcting-the-recipients-data-r4))
- Post-issuance discount or quantity adjustment
- Bad debt write-off
- Insolvency proceedings (*concurso de acreedores*) adjustment
A customer who asks for a full invoice instead of a ticket is not a correction: that is the [exchange of simplified invoices](/verifactu/simplified-vs-standard#upgrading-an-f2-to-f1-the-canje-case). And a withholding that should not have been applied is not one either: void the invoice and issue a new one without it.
> **Rules that apply here:** [COR-001 · Wrong data on an issued invoice is fixed with a corrective](/rules/corrective#cor-001)
## *Subsanación* [#subsanación]
*Subsanación* is the AEAT mechanism that **replaces a registration record with a corrected one** (AEAT's FAQ: «sustitución del "registro de alta" por otro registro subsanado»). It never changes what the invoice says, so it only applies when the error needs no corrective invoice: for example a rejection caused by an issuing NIF that was not yet in the census.
*Subsanación* is **never** the way to fix a typo in the description, a wrong amount, a wrong recipient NIF or a wrong series. An error in the invoice's amounts or content is corrected with a **corrective invoice** (`POST /invoices/{id}/corrective`), which produces a new fiscal document; a void is only for an invoice that should never have been issued. A corrective invoice keeps the recipient of the invoice it corrects, and changes only that recipient's data ([COR-017 · A corrective keeps the recipient, except to correct the recipient's data](/rules/corrective#cor-017)): an invoice issued to the wrong party is corrected in full with a `TOTAL` corrective and invoiced again to the right one.
When the cause was outside the invoice and you have resolved it, contact BeeL. with the invoice — see [Handling AEAT rejections](/verifactu/handling-rejections#when-to-contact-support).
## Decision matrix
The situations and what to do with each are in [Void or correct](/rules/void#void-or-correct), a table built from the rules that decide it. Two cases that depend on what AEAT answered:
- **AEAT never registered the invoice** (`REJECTED`): voiding it sends nothing to AEAT — see [Void](#anulación-void).
- **Rejected because the issuing NIF was not in the census yet**: nothing in the invoice is wrong, so it is a *subsanación* — contact [it@beel.es](mailto:it@beel.es) once the NIF is registered.
> **Rules that apply here:** [VOI-005 · A corrected invoice, or a total corrective, is not voided](/rules/void#voi-005) · [COR-013 · A corrective is only for the causes the law lists](/rules/corrective#cor-013) · [COR-024 · A corrective does not change only the withholding](/rules/corrective#cor-024) · [REC-010 · Subsanación is only for errors that need no corrective](/rules/records#rec-010)
## Related
- [Corrective invoices](/verifactu/corrective-invoices) — R1–R5 with full examples
- [Submission states](/verifactu/submission-states) — how cancellation fits in the lifecycle
- [Auto-submit policy](/verifactu/auto-submit) — applies to cancellation records too
- [Void an issued invoice](/invoices/voidCompanyInvoice)
- [Create a corrective invoice](/invoices/createCompanyCorrectiveInvoice)
- [List the VeriFactu records of an invoice](/invoices/listCompanyInvoiceVerifactuRecords) — registration and cancellation, each with its own status
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