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Invoicing
Invoice Number Format
Invoice Number Format
The invoice number format determines what your invoice number looks like. Customize the format number for your invoices in settings.
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Written by Kresimir
Updated this week

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When creating an invoice, you need to enter a unique invoice number. This is by default an auto-generated number that starts from number 1, but it can also be a number you enter from your accounting software.

It can also be customized to your own needs.

Let's say you need to create invoices that have a specific number format. For example, it could have these elements:

  • {yyyy} -> current year (2018)

  • {yy} -> current year, shortened (18)

  • {q} -> current quarter (1, 2, 3, 4)

  • {n} -> sequential invoice number (1, 2, 3...)

  • {mm} -> month (01, 02...)

  • {company_code} -> The first four letters of your company name will be included (ACMER = ACME)

This means your invoice numbers could be formatted like this:

  • {yyyy}/{mm}/{n} -> 2018/02/1 ; 2018/03/2...

  • {n}-{company_code}-{yyyy} -> 1-ACME-2018 ; 2-ACME-2018...

  • etc.

Productive lets you generate an invoice using these characters:

  • numbers (1 - 9)

  • letters (both uppercase and lowercase)

  • symbols ย / _ - . < >ย 

  • whitespace

๐Ÿ’ก Hint: If you are looking to set the invoice format as 01, 02, 03..., or 001, 002, 003,... make sure the numbering element is set as {nn} or {nnn} respectively.

To set up a custom invoice number format, go to Settings - Invoicing in your Productive account.

If your invoice number begins with an n (sequential invoice number), choose if you want the numbering sequence to reset each year. You will have two options in the Reset sequence dropdown:

  • Reset sequence: Yearly - Each year the n part of the sequence will reset and start from one

  • Reset sequence: Never - Each year the n part of the sequence will just continue from where it ended the previous year

If you have subsidiaries turned on, select one of your subsidiaries and find the Invoicing number format field:

Fill in the desired number format according to the parameters laid out at the start of this article.

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