Invoice numbering

Did you know that InvoiceOcean allows for assigning your own invoice numbering? You can choose from the available formats or create your own unique numbering scheme with just a few clicks.

If you want to check how documents are numbered on your account, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your profile on InvoiceOcean.com
2. In the upper right corner, click on Settings and choose Account Settings.
3. From the menu on the left, select Documents numbering - here you will see the current default numbering format for various types of documents.

How to change the invoice numbering format?

For each document, you can choose a sample format. If none of them suits you or if you are starting to use InvoiceOcean during an ongoing annual settlement cycle and want to maintain continuity in numbering, set up your current way of describing documents using the following variable parameters for dates and numbering: yyyy, yy, mm, dd, nr, nr-m, nr-d.
Then confirm the changes by clicking Save.

• nr: consecutive number counted from the beginning of the year, e.g., 1, 2, etc.
• nr-m: consecutive number counted from the beginning of the month.
• nr-d: consecutive number counted within the specific day.
• yyyy: four-digit year, e.g., 2023.
• yy: two-digit year, e.g., 23.
• mm: month.
• dd: day.

After changing the numbering format, the system sets the document numbering from the beginning, starting with number 1.

If you are starting to use InvoiceOcean during the fiscal year or migrating from another program and want to continue the numbering and formatting, you can manually change the number when issuing the first invoice. For example, if you want the numbering to start from 15, manually enter 15/10/2023 in the Invoice Number field. Then the system will automatically continue the numbering, and the next invoice will be numbered 16 (16/10/2023).

Now, every newly issued document will have the format that suits you. You no longer need to worry about saving the numbering on each invoice – it will be generated automatically in the order of the invoices you issue. If you want to change something on a per-invoice basis, that's not a problem. You can do it from the invoice editing interface. However, remember that despite manual changes, the system will continue the previously set numbering.

Similarly, proceed with the numbering format of other documents, including credit notes, proforma invoices, or various types of warehouse documents.

 

Invoice Issuance Date and Numbering

Note! Remember that when issuing invoices at the turn of the month, for example, from the night of August 31 to September 1, the invoice will be numbered according to the current date. Perhaps when issuing an invoice at night, you want it to be still counted for August, so you assign it a number like 31/08/2023. The program, when issuing subsequent documents in September, will suggest the last number from the date 01/09/2022 and automatically start numbering the next documents, giving them higher numbers, such as 32, 33, and so on... (32/09/2023, 33/09/2023..., 40/09/2023). This will result in a gap in numbering, so it's essential to remember to also change the issuance date of the document.

This will minimize the risk of error and save you time since you won't have to edit the number on each invoice. Remember here the three variants:

Variant 1 → Department number 1 has a different numbering than department number 2. In this case, individual documents will maintain numbering per department, for example,

Department number 1:                            Department number 2:

Invoice 1/2023.                                          Invoice 1/8/2023
Receipt 2/2023                                          Receipt 2/8/2023
Correction note 3/2023                      Correction note 3/8/2023
Prepayment 4/2023                                Prepayment 4/8/2023
 

Variant 2 → Numbering occurs per document regardless of the department, for example, 

Department number 1:                             Department number 2:

Invoice 1/2023                                               Invoice 2/2023
Receipt R 1/2023                                          Receipt R 2/2023
Correction note CN 1/2023                    Correction note CN 2/2023
Prepayment Z1/2023                                 Prepayment Z2/2023

Variant 3 → Numbering according to the order of issuing documents, for example,

Department number 1:                               Department number 2: 

Invoice 1/2023                                                 Final invoice 4/2023
Receipt 2/2023                                                Invoice 6/2023
Correction note 3/2023                               Final invoice 7/2023
Prepayment 5/2023                                      Correction note 8/2023

 

Continuous Document Numbering

If you need to, you can also check the option for Continuous Document Numbering. This option allows you to maintain absolute continuity of numbering, meaning that at the beginning of the new year, the numbering will not start from number 1 but will continue according to the previous year's sequence.

Continuous numbering will work only if we do not apply daily and monthly numbering parameters (nr-m and nr-d) in the numbering format.

 

Separate Numbering of Documents for Departments

If you are using different departments within your company and want to apply separate numbering formats for each department, click on Settings and choose the Company/department option. Once you are in the selected department, check the Separate Invoice numbering  for this department/company option. This feature is available from the Basic plan onwards. When the list of documents you use appears, set the numbering formats according to your needs. You can repeat this process for each department on the account. Instructions on how to set separate numbering are detailed here.

Remember that after saving the changes, the system will treat these settings as overriding the account settings.

Many customers think that simply checking this option will result in separate numbering. To have documents numbered separately in different departments, after checking this option, make a change to the numbering format, such as adding the company abbreviation or specific department information at the beginning or end of the format, or choose a completely different format. Another simple change is to introduce different separators; for example, instead of "/", you can use "." or another character. There must be at least one character of difference in the numbering format to ensure separate numbering for each department.

Let's say you run a clothing store and want invoices from each platform to have separate numbering. Create three departments in the Settings > Company/department menu: one for the physical store with its own numbering, another for the online store, and a department for a platform like Amazon. Assign a distinctive numbering scheme to each, checking the Separate invoice numbering for this department/company option in the department edit, and enter the invoice numbering format. For example, for Amazon, use AZ-nr/mm, for the online store use OS-nr/mm, and for the physical store use FS-nr/mm. This way, in case of returns or complaints, you have a clear way to allocate the relevant document to the needed department.