> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.denari.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Billing periods & the cutoff > One billing group's billing of one stretch of time, and how much work the bill includes. **A billing period is one billing group's billing of one stretch of time.** It moves through four statuses, and it has a cutoff that decides how much work the bill includes. The shared [period](/flows/periods) underneath never changes; only the billing of it does. Open a billing group and go to its **Periods** tab. A billing group's Periods tab, showing the current period and earlier ones still open, each with its cutoff and actions. ## Billing period statuses | Status | Meaning | | - | - | | **Open** | Work is being recorded. Drafts can be built and rebuilt. | | **Staging** | A draft has been prepared. You can still change things. | | **Locked** | No more work counts toward this period. | | **Closed** | Finished. This can't be undone. | Upcoming periods show as **Forecast**. Locking a billing period never locks the project work. People can keep working; that work just goes on a later bill. ## The cutoff The cutoff is the last day of work a bill includes. It can be earlier than the end of the period, such as *bill through the 27th*. * Click **Edit cutoff** to choose the firm default, the period end, or a custom date. * Work is judged by the date it was done, not the day it was typed in. * Work after the cutoff rolls to the next bill. It keeps its own period, so late-September work is still September work on October's bill. ## Period actions | Action | What it does | | - | - | | **Prepare draft** / **Refresh draft** | Builds or rebuilds the [draft invoice](/flows/drafts-and-review). | | **Lock** | Stops more work from counting. | | **Sweep to ad-hoc invoice** | After locking, puts leftover charges on a separate invoice. | | **Reopen** | Unlocks, if nothing has been issued since the lock. | | **Close** | Finishes the period for good. | | **Activity & invoices** | Shows everything that happened in this period. | ## Scheduled billing runs On the **Billing groups** page, **Scheduled billing runs** lets an admin turn on automatic drafts. Set the run day, the default cutoff day, and the default [WIP relief](/flows/wip-and-budgets#when-wip-comes-off). **Drafts are never issued or sent automatically.** A person always reviews and issues them. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.