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How to customize your invoice numbering scheme
How to customize your invoice numbering scheme

How to setup automatic invoice numbers that include client initials, year, month, and more

Geoff Mina avatar
Written by Geoff Mina
Updated over a week ago

Whether you moved to Moxie with an existing numbering scheme and want to keep using it, or you want to start using a new scheme, you can create a custom format that starts today and continues for all future invoices.

Where do I find the settings to customize the invoice numbering format?

Click the workspace settings in the bottom left of your screen. Then pick preferences > invoices. Next to invoice numbering, click edit.

What can I do in the "customize invoice numbering scheme" modal?

You can select from a list of pre-built formats that include unique number, year, month, and client initials. All you have to do is select one, choose your starting number, and hit "Save." This format will be applied to all future invoices.

Can I create a custom numbering scheme?

Yes. Use the dropdown for "invoice format" and click "Create custom format" to open this window:

Time to do a little bit of coding! Sort of. You can pick a variable shown in the table and write any other text you want to create a fully customized format. For example, if you want your format to be "Inv-2021-1001" you would use the year and unique number variables, and then write in the letters "Inv" at the beginning. The code you would save in the box would be Inv-{{YYYY}}-{{Num}}. The separators, such as - _ . are typed in the same as the letters Inv. If you don't add separators, and coded Inv{{YYYY}}{{Num}} the result would be Inv20211001 instead of Inv-2021-1001.

Pro tip: you can either write in the variable names, copy and paste them, or just click on them to automatically insert them next in the text field.

And if any of that is too complicated, just message us and we'll create the custom format for you :)

What does "Unique sequence for each client" mean?

A unique sequence for each client means that every client will start counting up from the same number. So if you choose "Yes" in that dropdown, the next invoice for each client starts with 1001 (or whatever number you chose to start with. If you have three clients (Client X, Client Y, and Client Z), selected the scheme SC-1001 (Client initials and number) and chose unique number for each starting with 101, it would look like this as you create invoices over the next few weeks:

  • CX-101

  • CX-102

  • CY-101

  • CX-103

  • CZ-101

If you set that dropdown to "No" then it would count up by 1 for every new invoice, regardless of which client it was for and would look like this:

  • CX-101

  • CX-102

  • CY-103

  • CX-104

  • CZ-105

That setting is what "Number counts up globally (not by client)" means in the Invoice Preferences section.

What if I create repeat invoices numbers?

As in, what if two clients have the same initials and they both start at 1? That's ok. The invoice number shown at the top of the invoice is just there to be human readable, but there is another unique invoice number in the database that looks like dkjwp0230vndsjm2o0r49yjh that is completely unrelated to whatever you call your invoice.

Is it a good idea to have the same invoice number? Definitely not. Will it break Moxie? Also definitely not. But if you have a lot of clients and are worried that lookalike initials will cause problems, then don't use a unique sequence for every client and instead count up globally across all clients so you never have to worry about repeat invoice numbers.

Can I edit past invoice numbers?

No, invoices that have already been sent will keep their original invoice number. Invoices drafted after you make the formatting change will receive the new format.

Can I reset the unique number to 1 at the start of every new year?

No, but if you only bill once a month, you could use month as the number, so January's invoice would be SC-2021-1, followed by SC-2021-2 in February, and so on. This would require creating a custom format of SC-YYYY-MM without a unique invoice number because all of the pre-built formats include a unique invoice number.

If you don't like that solution, you can create a feature request. While you're there, feel free to upvote any other feature requests you would like to see!

Can I create a unique invoice number for just one invoice?

No, sorry. You can't edit just a single invoice's number. We designed it to count up by 1 every time you create a new invoice, and we didn't build in the flexibility to edit a single invoice on top of that. Creating both features was tricky so we created the feature that we thought would be more useful.

Feel free to request that feature on our feedback site.

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