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Numbering schemes

A numbering scheme produces formal document identifiers - INV-2026-0042, CTR/26/0007. Schemes are defined under Numbering in the administration section.

The numbering schemes administration screen

Numbering schemes and their patterns. Sequence values are allocated server-side.

Patterns

Section titled “Patterns”

A scheme’s pattern is a template built from tokens:

Token Expands to
{YYYY} Four-digit year, e.g. 2026.
{YY} Two-digit year, e.g. 26.
{MM} Two-digit month, e.g. 03.
{SEQ} The allocated sequence value, unpadded.
{SEQ:0000} The sequence value, zero-padded to the given number of digits.

Anything else in the pattern is literal.

Examples

Section titled “Examples”
Pattern Produces
INV-{YYYY}-{SEQ:0000} INV-2026-0042
CTR/{YY}/{SEQ:0000} CTR/26/0007
{YYYY}{MM}-{SEQ:000} 202603-014
{SEQ:0000} 0042

{SEQ:0000} is the default when no pattern is given.

The sequence is always included

Section titled “The sequence is always included”

If a pattern contains no {SEQ} token at all, the allocated value is appended anyway, padded to four digits, with a separator inserted unless the pattern already ends in - or /.

A pattern of INV-{YYYY} therefore yields INV-2026-0042, not INV-2026 repeated. A scheme cannot be configured into producing the same identifier twice.

Allocation

Section titled “Allocation”

Numbers are allocated server-side, in the database. Two people numbering documents at the same instant receive different numbers; there is no client-side counter to drift or collide.

Allocation is a deliberate act: a number is issued when it is requested, not automatically on every upload. This is what you want - a formal identifier should be assigned when a document becomes the thing that needs one, not to every draft that passes through.

Padding

Section titled “Padding”

Choose padding for the volume you expect over the scheme’s life, not this year’s. {SEQ:000} allows 999 before the format grows a digit, and identifiers that change shape partway through a series sort badly and read as a mistake.

Four digits is a reasonable default. Six is not excessive for a high-volume scheme.

Year and month tokens

Section titled “Year and month tokens”

{YYYY} and {MM} expand from the allocation time, so a number issued in March 2026 carries 2026 and 03.

Note that the tokens format the date but do not reset the sequence. If you want a series that restarts each year, that is a matter of how you manage schemes, not something the pattern does on its own. A pattern containing {YYYY} with a continuously increasing sequence produces INV-2026-0042 followed by INV-2027-0043, which is valid but may not be what was intended.

Editing a scheme

Section titled “Editing a scheme”

Changing a pattern affects numbers allocated from then on. Already-issued numbers are recorded on their documents and do not change - which is correct, because an identifier that changes retroactively is not an identifier.

Expect a scheme’s history to contain more than one format if it has been edited. That is a reason to settle the pattern before the scheme goes into use.

Section titled “Related”