What Is an Invoice Number? Ways to Format and Generate It

But as you begin a new accounting period, the invoice number starts with the number after the last invoice number. For instance, if calendar year 2024 ended with invoice number 1120, the invoice number for 2025 should start at 1121. In this guide, we’ll go over the uses and importance of invoice numbers. We’ll also show you how you can design a unique invoice number for your small business. It’s advisable to have the invoice number as per industry standards. Let’s take a deep dive into understanding more about invoice numbers and discover their role in invoice management.

Invoice number format

This method is most suitable for businesses who take on a lot of projects, or whose project number is the most important, such as construction companies. Keep in mind that in every numbering system, the sequence number is always placed in the end. You can even send the invoices to your customers via WhatsApp, giveing you the power to run your business on the go. With QuickBooks, you can easily check which customers have made payments and which customers are yet to pay. Make sure that you comply with the terms set out on the invoice, similar to how you’d like your customers to comply with your terms. Some suppliers are quite firm in setting the payment guidelines, so they may be inflexible when it comes to receiving payments on terms other than the ones set by them.

In this situation, contact your customer about the unpaid invoice as soon as possible.
The goal is to ensure each invoice number is unique, well-organized, and easily traceable for record-keeping and accounting purposes.
The software will work as an invoice number generator, automatically assigning invoice numbers.
A company generates an invoice number to send a client a payment within the due date.
The distributor will then issue an invoice meaning that the customer has received the products and is now required to pay for them.
If so, you may want to add a separate line item for “emergency services request – DATE” (e.g., “Emergency Website Services – October 2”) on the invoice.

Step 4: Choose How To Send Your Invoice

Although receipts and invoices track payments, typically, an invoice doesn’t require a receipt. Let’s use our old friend Hollywood Limousine Services again for this example. Deskera also lets you set up regular payment reminders, to minimize late deliveries and unpaid invoices. With this weight off your shoulders, you can focus more on taking care of your customers rather than being the bill collector.

Is the Invoice Number the Same as the Receipt Number?

It’s free to register as a US business for an account, and there’s 24/7 support on hand to guide you through the whole process.
When you’re creating an invoice, keep these tips in mind to ensure both parties are clear on payment expectations.
So, if something comes up in the future, it’s easy to look through old invoices to find the source of the issue.
If you’re just starting out using invoices to bill clients, here are a few simple tricks you can use to ensure that your invoices are well-organized and easily searchable.
In that case, add a reminder to your invoice checklist to verify that you have charged the correct tax amount.
Generally, the due date is 30 days following the invoice date, but this can vary based on a company’s needs and the agreement with the client or buyer.

However, regardless of the format, the invoice number should be structured in a way that invoices can be documented and retrieved easily. The details included in a typical invoice are not necessarily unique. In such cases, locating a specific invoice by job type or client details may not yield the desired results. This is especially true when you do milestone invoicing, where you issue invoices to your client at each stage of the project as agreed in the contract. If all your invoices are to be identified by ‘job name,’ it may cause confusion as to which invoices are paid, which remain unpaid, and how much is yet to be paid.

Faster Payments

Start invoicing with QuickBooks accounting software today, and use our suite of tools to elevate your business. Now let’s imagine that about six months after you’ve completed these projects, the client reaches out to request some additional work. As you sign new clients, assign them a client number in your internal database. Simply ordering invoices from “1” can get confusing as you scale up your operation. The next invoice number should be a sequential number that’s easy to keep track of. Unique invoice numbers are important because they help you track a variety of factors that are critical for keeping your business running smoothly and profitably.

Letting customers know you offer discounts for early payments or charge late fees on overdue invoices may encourage them to make timely payments. A key way streamline your invoicing efforts, is to make the payment process easy. Providing customers with an easy way to pay your invoice will encourage on-time payments and improve their experience with your company. Recurring invoices are issued to collect recurring payments from customers and are typically issued throughout the course of an ongoing project. Proforma invoices are issued to a customer before a product or service is delivered and are used by businesses to help customers understand the scope and cost of an upcoming project.

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FreshBooks’ invoicing system helps you track old invoices, avoid duplicate payments, and prepare for future invoices.
Instead of starting with 001, consider starting with a higher number such as 1,000.
Overall, the length of your invoice numbers will depend on the needs and preferences of your business.
Given that your invoice includes all this information, why does an invoice number matter?

From there you can decide how long your customer needs to settle an invoice. When selling products or services, enter the invoice amount owed as accounts payable on the buyer’s end, and for a business, the invoice is in accounts receivable. Businesses will use invoices invoice number meaning to track what customers owe in total as a way to monitor cash flow. The company you bought the product from provides the invoice number. For example, a landscaping company that provides products or services to a customer might supply the invoice and invoice number.