i am inquiring as to an easy way to have the invoice numbers be specific to a project and not simply the next "billings" invoice number from preferences. what i mean is that i want each time i send an invoice for a specific project, i would like it to be the next number for that specific project. if client A has two on going projects, i want project 1 to have specific invoice numbers and project 2 to have it's own invoice numbers. if project 1 has on invoice 007 and project 2 is only on invoice 002, i don't want project 2's next invoice to automatically be 008. i hope you understand my predicament. it seems that no matter what invoice a particular client / project is on, the next invoice will always be what ever is dictated by the next invoice number in preferences. every time i make a new invoice i have to go into preferences before hand and change it to the appropriate number for the project i am invoicing [very time consuming]. i wish there was a way to change the invoice in the invoice create window. let me know if i am not doing something correct or if there is a feature in billings i do not know about regarding sequential invoice numbers.

I second this request -- I'm just starting up a new client and it is strange that their first invoice will be #33

There are 2 problems here:

1) The minor one: If you send an invoice numbered "1" to a client, they will assume they are your first client - not good! The bigger the invoice number, the better.

2) The major one: In some jurisdictions, you have to have sequential invoice numbers - globally. It is the law. If you have holes in your sequences, you can be heavily fined.

[AJ]

1] as an architect that has been in business for years, my clients DO NOT want to wonder why they got an invoice from me numbered 22 than the very next one numbered 28. we keep different invoice numbers for our clients projects, which also helps in adding up how much they have paid towards their contract fee. that is the one thing billings does not do so well, most of my projects have a contract fee and we bill towards that fee amount which is divided up accordingly into the different project phases. we charge hourly towards that phase total, anything left over is profit.

2] we do work globally and have never heard of any type of fine, who would have jurisdiction to be fining us, other than the US federal government? we do have to have sequential invoice numbers for each contract, with each client, hence the request for project numbered invoices.

so my request is for project related sequential invoices, that would make life easier for us architects.

Obviously nothing is happening with this, or has it been addressed already?

I totally agree with other posters on this issue and I'm surprised it's not a much more prominent request.

I really don't see the problem with creating an option to allow invoicing by project or client. If it's the law to have sequential invoices in some jurisdictions, then surely it's the user that has the responsibility to ensure their invoicing complies - not the software's responsibility to take away the choice from all users.

In my situation, my invoices are generally numbered sequentially per client (occasionally per project on big projects). Like jbech above, my clients expect their invoices to be sequential. My invoice numbering generally includes the client number (or a project ref) so a client's invoices might be numbered 86001,86002,86003 and so on. Another client will have invoices 74001,74002 etc.

I think AJ's suggestion that 'The bigger the invoice number, the better' is completely off the mark. I think my clients are intelligent enough to realise that the invoice number is specific to them, and that they're not my first client. If I really want to pad out my numbers then I could simply use a bigger starting number, but this really doesn't achieve much.

The lack of per client or per project invoice numbers is proving to be a massive stumbling block and I don't like having to create crazy workarounds in order to maintain consistent invoicing for my clients.

well put fingermouse, i completely concur. i need separate invoice tracking per project, per client. in the new billings 3 all of my projects for one client [as in different locations / designs] are now grouped together under accounts. the new receipt icon / graphic looks silly [read housewife'ish], their should be a option that allows us to switch from the receipt look to a standard grid [read clean swiss graphics]. i now have to add a prefix to each receipt, in addition to a different number for each SEPARATE project for a specific client. i like billings, but please a few professional invoice / looking options would be nice for those of us that have clients with multiple projects lasting for a few years.

I have to support this suggestion fully! In fact, I cannot use Billings until something like this is implemented or I can find a way to work around it. I've already been using a certain invoice numbering style for a while, and cannot simply change it now randomly, or my clients will get confused.

My current numbering scheme is as follows (and I have many associates from other companies who use a similar scheme):
<ClientID>-<InvoiceCounterForThisClientOnly> (ie 1504-001, 1504-002, 1504-003, etc)
or similarly:
<ClientID>-<ProjectID>-<InvoiceCounterForThisProjectOnly> (ie 1504-01-001, 1504-01-002, 1504-02-001, 1504-02-002, etc)

airik, i agree with you. we use a similar naming scheme as you do.

... what is the current status of this very common problem? my invoices also are generally numbered sequentially per client. please add this important frequently asked function.

I agree with the previous comments. There should be an option for per client/project invoice numbering.

Billings in pretty much perfect for me apart from this. Are there any plans to include this feature in future versions?