# Fishbowl: Cannot configure historical orders

> You're trying to modify custom settings on an order Fishbowl has marked as historical or completed.

## What it means

You attempted to configure custom settings on a Sales Order that Fishbowl has classified as historical—usually because the order is completed, shipped, or otherwise archived. Fishbowl protects historical orders from modification to maintain audit integrity and prevent accidental changes to past transactions.

## What to check

- **Order status**: Verify whether this order is marked complete, fulfilled, shipped, or archived. If it is, you may not be able to customize it.
- **Timing**: Typically you configure custom settings on active or draft orders before they're finalized.
- **New vs. past**: Check whether you meant to configure a current order instead of a historical one, or whether this configuration should have been done earlier in the order's lifecycle.

---

*From Israel Lopez Consulting (ILC). Custom Fishbowl Inventory integrations and software, and Fishbowl experts since 2015. Written by Israel Lopez. Questions about this topic, or want to reach the people who wrote it? Visit https://israellopezconsulting.com/contact*