Invoice Numbering
Every invoice gets a unique number automatically. You control what those numbers look like — the prefix, where the count starts, and whether the year is part of the number — from one place in settings.
Where to Find It
Go to Settings → Invoices and find the Invoice Numbering section. You'll see three controls and a live read-out showing the number your next invoice will receive.
Changes here only affect new invoices. Nothing you've already issued is renumbered.
The Three Settings
Prefix. The text at the start of every number, used exactly as you type it. The default is INV-. Add your own trailing dash or space so the number reads cleanly — for example a prefix of INV- produces INV-2026-0001, while a prefix of ACME produces ACME 2026-0001.
Include year. When on, the current year is inserted after the prefix and the count restarts each January (INV-2026-0001). When off, you get one continuous count with no year (INV-0001).
Starting number. The lowest number your next invoice may take. It's padded to at least four digits, so 1 shows as 0001 and 1051 shows as 1051. Numbers longer than four digits are never shortened.
As you edit the three controls, a format preview shows the shape of the number, and a “Next invoice number will be…” line shows the actual number your next invoice would receive based on what's already saved.
How the Starting Number Works
The starting number is a floor, not a hard reset. When ClientCove creates the next invoice it takes whichever is higher:
- one more than the highest existing number under the current prefix (and year, if enabled), or
- your starting number.
This has two practical consequences:
- Moving from another system? Set the starting number to the next number you want. If your old system's last invoice was 1050, set the starting number to 1051 and your first ClientCove invoice becomes
INV-2026-1051. - Setting it lower than your current numbers does nothing. If you're already at
INV-2026-1050and you set the starting number to 10, the next invoice is stillINV-2026-1051. This is deliberate — it keeps numbers from colliding.
Setting the starting number higher than your current highest creates a gap on purpose, which is exactly what a migration needs.
Including the Year
With Include year on, the sequence restarts each year: the last invoice of one year might be INV-2025-0842, and the first of the next year becomes INV-2026-0001 (or your starting number, whichever is higher). This is the normal, expected behavior for year-stamped numbering.
The year used is the year at the moment the number is assigned — not the invoice's issue date. If you back-date or forward-date an invoice, its number still reflects the year it was actually created.
Turning the year off switches to a single continuous count (INV-0001, INV-0002, …) that never resets. Switching the year setting only affects invoices created afterward; it never rewrites the numbers already on your existing invoices.
What Never Changes
- Existing invoices are never renumbered. Changing the prefix, the year toggle, or the starting number only affects invoices created from that point on.
- Numbers stay unique. ClientCove always picks the next number above what already exists for the current prefix, so you can't accidentally create a duplicate.
If you delete your highest-numbered invoice, that number can be reused by the next invoice. If you need numbers to be strictly gap-free for accounting, avoid deleting the most recent invoice — cancel it instead.
Examples
Assuming the current year is 2026:
| Prefix | Include year | Starting number | Highest existing | Next number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
INV- | On | 1 | none | INV-2026-0001 |
INV- | On | 1 | INV-2026-1050 | INV-2026-1051 |
INV- | On | 2000 | INV-2026-1050 | INV-2026-2000 |
INV- | On | 10 | INV-2026-1050 | INV-2026-1051 |
INV- | Off | 1 | none | INV-0001 |
Who Can Change It
Invoice numbering settings are Administrator only. Other roles can create and manage invoices, but only an administrator can change the prefix, year toggle, or starting number in Settings → Invoices.