Invoice Number Assignment

Elmohs

Morning,
It would be a great idea that when we do a DRAFT invoice that an invoice number is not assigned to it until it has been approved. Maybe instead of a number it says quote or something similar.
It is much easier for us to have invoices in order at the end of the month, sometimes we do a draft invoice months in advance and our accountant always asks for the missing invoices, which aren't missing just somewhere else, this is why we think this would be a good idea.
Just a thought. Thanks

iTees

I agree to this idea

Barsin

Hey @Elmohs @iTees

Thanks for reaching out about this. I wonder if you could rename your draft invoices to DRAFT001 for example. Then 002 and so on.

The invoice/estimate numbering pattern will always increase from the previous sequence you set. For example, if you create an invoice or estimate (let's say 0019) and create another, the digit at the end of the sequence will increase by 1 (0020). If you add letters, the final digit will always increase by one as well (Name 0021, etc.), and letters cannot be customized (i.e. the same letters will carry over in the next invoice).

So if you create a new invoice that is not a draft you will need to change the name back to INVOICE001 or whatever your invoice naming convention is.

Also not sure if your issue could be solved by using the estimates section as well under Sales.

murray

I'm wanting to include the invoice number in the memo area but I'm having trouble.
I can create the invoice without any problem, but I don't have access to the invoice number until after it is saved. And then when I have the invoice number I can't update the memo field.

I must be missing something - can you point me in the right direction please?

For example, is there supposed to be an InvoicePatch function?

ConnorM

Hey @murray! Can you show me what memo section you're looking to add the invoice number into? When you create a new invoice, the invoice number will automatically be filled out in the top right corner of the invoice creation page itself. Furthermore, the invoice numbers will always appear sequentially, so you should be able to predict which one's up next, but if there's something I'm missing here please let me know!

murray

Good morning @ConnorM
Thanks for getting back to me.

The memo field is the normal one at the bottom of the invoice (but not the footer).
Normally this is used for notes and terms. Often people put payment information in here.

So if people are paying by electronic funds transfer (EFT) we would provide them our account number and ask them to enter a reference number (so that we can match up the deposit in our account with a particular invoice). So we ask them to enter the reference details as the invoice number. Most people are intelligent and would know where to find the invoice number, but you would be surprised how many calls we receive asking for the reference number to enter on their payment. So we really want to spell it out, and enter it next to the bank account details, even calling it a reference number (although of course it is the invoice number).

For example we would include payment details like this:
Notes / Terms
PAYMENT METHODS
EFT: ANZ Bank 06-0541-0147400-00
EFT: Please include the reference number: 3449

So I started coding to initially create a dummy invoice to retrieve the invoice number, then delete the dummy invoice, knowing that this frees up that same invoice number for re-use. So when I created the real invoice I could anticipate the invoice number and fill in the memo field as above.

This was all going well until I found the invoiceDelete function didn't delete the invoice. The message suggests the InvoiceDeleteInput value is incorrect, but it matches the documentation. I'm wondering if I have found a bug.

Although, I would be happy to ignore the bug if there was an InvoicePatch function so that I could update the memo field after the invoice was already saved. Or, another function that would tell me what the next invoice number to be allocated would be. Or, some substitute token that I could put in the memo field that would be automatically replaced by the invoice number when the invoice is displayed or PDF'd.

murray

Hi @ConnorM
I can confirm that the InvoiceDelete function is working. I had missed the "input" array wrapping the parameter.

It would still be nice to have a better solution for the following actions:
1. adding the invoice number to the memo area
2. retrieving the exchange rate for a customer

Creating and deleting a dummy invoice is overkill.

PaulC

Hi @murray,

Thanks for sharing your experiences working with the Invoice API. It sounds like you have found a workable - but far from ideal - solution through creating and deleting a dummy invoice.

My take-aways from your comments and suggestions are:

• Need for invoicePatch mutation. Agreed. We have other parts of the system with currently no API coverage that we want to get to first, but then circling back to add 'patch' mutations will be important.
• You would like to not have Wave issue an invoice number when the Draft is created. This is not a change we would be likely to make, as it is baked deeply into how Wave works. I believe that with an invoicePatch mutation, however, you would then be free to maintain and set your own series of invoice numbers, so this would cease to be an issue.
• You are sometimes creating and deleting an invoice simply to discover the next invoice number. Firstly, you could perhaps instead just track the last invoice you created and add 1 to its number, but also on our side I've noted that a 'getNextInvoiceNumber' query would be helpful, so that you could run that before doing the create.

Thanks again for your feedback.

murray

Hi @PaulC

I do want Wave to generate an invoice number on the draft, as it currently does. This is completely normal and I wouldn't suggest doing it any other way.

The simplest solution for my problem is a 'getNextInvoiceNumber' query.

I have a work-around for the moment. I would appreciate you keeping the above query on your to do list.

Cheers
Murray

PaulC

Thanks for clarifying @murray.

If I understood you correctly, you would like a draft that is created now but converted / sent at some future date to have a number that is in sequence by the date converted/sent, rather than first created as a draft. That is why I assumed you wanted no number on the draft (or nothing permanent, at any rate).

Either way, a getNextInvoiceNumber query is something we have on our backlog to look at.