Before you start setting up reference numbers

MJA Updated by MJA

Before you start...

Within Newbase, documents and data are assigned a reference number (a unique number). We advise you to think carefully about the numbering before actually starting with Newbase. Some considerations when creating sequence numbers are:

  • what do you want the numbers to look like? Do you want to include a year and/or month number in the issue?
  • do you want to number continuously or do you want to set the numbering to an initial position per year?
  • what is the length of the reference number? Of course depending on how many records will be created in the program and whether numbers will be numbered continuously over the years or whether numbers will be reset every year.
  • if the application is used by several companies, is it desirable for each company to have its own reference number, or can the multiple companies use the same number series?

Reference number structure

We recommend that you always start the reference number of a document with a fixed text to indicate the type of document. Think of SI (for sales invoice), SO (for sales order) and PI (for purchase invoice).

After this fixed text, it is wise to choose an indication with a date in it. Usually the (part of the) year is chosen. But other combinations with month and day are also possible.

We recommend displaying the actual number as the last part of the serial number. The document number must be at least 3 digits long.

Pay attention! Changing the length of the number is possible in Newbase but not desirable. The consequences of this are described below, at sorting reference numbers.

If desired, punctuation marks can be used between the different parts of the reference number. Think of a dot or dash. The advantage of working with punctuation marks between the different codes is that the different parts of the sequence number are more clearly recognizable.

Reference number sorting

When you set a reference number in Newbase, you should consider in advance how long the number part of this reference number should be. It is not desirable to adjust the length of the number in the meantime. Although this is possible.

Why is it not desirable to adjust the length of the number in the meantime?

In Newbase, the documents are sorted in alphanumeric order. Alphanumeric means that the sort is first on the letters and then on numbers from lowest to highest. This means that numbers are sorted by the first digit they start with. So 1234 is shown earlier than 325 because the number starts with a 1 and the other with a 3

If you adjust the sequence number from three to four digits in the meantime, the order will no longer be descending (or ascending) in the display of the documents. The highest reference number with three digits (ie 999) will be at the top and the first sequence number with four digits (ie 1000) will show between the sequence numbers that start with a 1.

It is possible that you have gone 'over the limit' of the number of digits for a certain reference number without realising it. If this is the case, Newbase will continue numbering on its own and the display will be as described above.

We recommend that you renew this reference number during the year transition.

Are you ready to start setting up reference numbers click here.

How did we do?

How can an application manager authorize Microsoft 365 for a user

Using code at settings reference numbers

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