# Deactivating and Reactivating Payees

## Abstract

Deactivating a payee pauses payment release without deleting the payee record. It holds unreleased payments, keeps onboarding data intact, and preserves invite activity. Payees can be reactivated with no change to status or payment status. 

Use deactivation when you need to stop release activity for a payee temporarily.

### How to deactivate a payee

Go to **Charted > Payees** and select the payee you wish to deactivate. Click **Edit Payee > Deactivate** and you will be prompted a confirmation screen. Hit **Submit** to proceed

<figure><img src="/files/eshdVSOuAGiIv5GPJWho" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

The payee record will now display the 'Deactivated' tag next to their name.&#x20;

&#x20;![](/files/IC9hWmkkT2x2XkCQA6RN)

All bill payments created for deactivated payee's will move to **Payee Payments > Release > Not Ready for Release** and the reason code will be **Payee Deactivated**

<figure><img src="/files/gOJ2khpDQB3zg5U4qK5Q" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### How to reactivate a payee

Go to **Charted > Payees** and select the payee you wish to reactivate. Click **Edit Payee > Reactivate** and you will be prompted a confirmation screen. Hit **Submit** to proceed.

<figure><img src="/files/myw0yfn8fPNlvGxJiDvC" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

The payee record will no 'Deactivated' tag next to their name. All pending payments to this payee will move to from **Payee Payments > Not Ready for Release** to **Payee Payment > Ready for Release** unless they were cancelled while the payee was deactivated.

### What deactivating a payee does

Deactivating a payee changes payment release behavior and payee visibility.

It does the following:

* Moves unreleased payments to [Not Ready for Release](/ap-automation/charted-features/payment-automation/resolving-not-ready-for-release-issues.md) with the reason **Payee Deactivated**.
* Returns those payments to [Ready for Release](/ap-automation/charted-features/payment-automation/navigating-the-ready-for-release-queue.md) after reactivation.
* Hides the payee from the default **Payees** list, which filters to **Active**.
* Keeps outstanding invites visible and available to send or resend.

### What deactivating a payee does not do

Deactivation is a release gate. It is not a full lock on payee activity.

It does not do the following:

* Block new payment creation.
* Stop payments already in progress.
* Block invite sending or resending.
* Change approval status.
* Remove onboarding or banking details.
* It does not communicate with NetSuite's native payee inactive status.

### How payments behave after deactivation

#### Unreleased payments

Any payment that has not been released for the deactivated payee moves to **Not Ready for Release**. The payment shows the reason **Payee Deactivated**.

The payment stays there until you reactivate the payee or cancel the payment. You can't release payments in **Not Ready for Release**.&#x20;

#### New payments

You can still create new payments for an inactive payee, however those payments land in **Not Ready for Release** immediately.

#### In-progress payments

Payments already released continue to process and complete normally.&#x20;

Deactivation only affects unreleased payments.

#### Outstanding invites

Outstanding invites remain visible.

You can still send or resend invites while the payee is inactive, and payees can still accept invites.&#x20;

Deactivation does not block invite state or hide invite history.

### What happens when you reactivate a payee

Reactivation removes the release gate for that payee.

Any payments held only because of deactivation return to **Ready for Release** automatically.

{% hint style="warning" %}
If you do not want held payments to be released, cancel and void them before reactivating the payee.
{% endhint %}

### In short

Deactivation mainly controls payment release.

It also changes default list visibility for the payee.

It does not block onboarding, invite activity, or payment creation.


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