Number ranges

The Number range page (/en/account/numbering). The consecutive number is drawn only on finalising — never on merely creating an invoice, and never for a preview.

Why only on finalising

Abandoned attempts, corrections and discarded drafts can then leave no gap in the sequence — which is what section 14 of the German VAT Act and the GoBD require. Drawing itself is a single atomic operation; two simultaneous finalisations receive different numbers.

On the result page of the create tool, two buttons therefore sit side by side:

Button	Effect
Save to archive	files a draft — deletable, no number drawn
Finalise legally	draws the next consecutive number (only if the number field was left empty), regenerates the document with it and files it as finalised

If you entered an invoice number yourself in the create form, that number stands — the counter is then left untouched.

The pattern

Free text with placeholders:

Placeholder	Meaning
{JJJJ}	invoice year, four digits
{JJ}	invoice year, two digits
{MM}	invoice month, two digits
{N} … {NNNNNNNNNNNN}	the consecutive number; the count of N is the number of digits, padded with leading zeros

The default for a new account is RE-{JJJJ}-{NNNN} → RE-2026-0001.

What the form enforces: at most 40 characters, exactly one counter placeholder — without it every number would be identical — no unknown placeholders and no single curly braces.

There is also an optional separate pattern for credit notes and cancellations, such as GS-{JJJJ}-{NNNN}. Left empty, credit notes run in the same range as invoices.

Reset mode and starting value

Setting	Effect
Consecutive (never reset)	one continuous sequence
Reset annually	a separate counter per invoice year
Reset monthly	a separate counter per invoice month

The starting value is the first number issued. It only takes effect as long as nothing has been drawn from the counter in question.

The two uniqueness guards

Both apply automatically on saving — and they can visibly shift the number sequence. It is worth knowing them:

1 · Changing the reset mode

If you switch from “consecutive” to “annually”, the new annual counter would start at 1 and reissue numbers already used. The new counter is therefore raised in advance to the highest value in the range.

A natural turn of the year or month, without a configuration change, starts regularly at the starting value.

2 · Leaving the shared range with the same pattern

If an invoice issuer gets its own range and keeps the tenant’s pattern, the same pattern plus the same counter would yield the same number. The fresh counter is therefore advanced past the tenant’s.

With a separate pattern this does not apply; the new range starts at 1.

The range selector on the page

A selector sits at the top as soon as there is something to select — with several invoice issuers, or when a single one already keeps a range of its own. Selectable are the main range of the account and each invoice issuer.

For an invoice issuer without its own range, the page shows the main range’s pattern and offers “Start a separate number range”. Conversely, “Count in the main range again” leads back — with the numbers issued in its own range remaining blocked.

Where to go next

How a finalised invoice is corrected is described under Finalising and cancelling. Why the first invoice issuer gets no range of its own is explained under Invoice issuers.