For creating documents, it's essential that each document has a unique, consecutive, and identifiable number. You achieve this through number ranges. Additionally, you define number ranges for customer numbers, supplier numbers, employee numbers, and item numbers.
The numbers of your documents and records are consecutively assigned starting from the first number you set.
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In this article, you will find general considerations and tips, as well as links to further articles in the following categories:
A number range in an ERP system refers to a predefined sequence or series of numbers used for the unique identification of various business objects such as documents, orders, customers, suppliers, and other records. Number ranges are essential for organizing, tracking, and managing data within the ERP system, as they allow for systematic and consistent assignment of identifiers.
Key Aspects of a Number Range:
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Uniqueness: Each number in a number range is unique and is assigned to exactly one record. This prevents confusion and duplication.
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Sequentiality: The numbers within a number range follow a specific sequence, which can be ascending, descending, or based on specific rules.
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Customizability: ERP systems often allow for the customization of number ranges to meet the specific requirements of the company. This includes defining the start value, end value, increment, and format of the numbers. Automation: The assignment of numbers from a number range is typically automated by the system, which reduces manual errors and increases efficiency.
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Organizational Structure: Number ranges can be configured to reflect the organizational structure of a company, for example, by using different sequences for different departments, locations, or business areas.
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Legal and Operational Requirements: In some cases, number ranges also meet legal requirements, such as the continuous numbering of invoices for tax purposes.
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Number ranges play a central role in data integrity and organization within ERP systems and are a fundamental tool for efficient data management and analysis.
Your business model, the size of your company, growth plans, and the integration of third-party systems like shops, marketplaces, or tax offices often influence the choice of number ranges in your ERP system. Ideally, you find a good option for your company's current setup that offers you enough flexibility and continuity for the near and distant future.
Here are some factors that could play a role:
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B2C Business Model: A B2C business model with multiple channels and dependencies on third-party systems that require different numbers and assignments.
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Mixed Business Model: B2C order volume combined with high-value B2B deliveries to customers that demand different document and customer account numbers than your B2C channel.
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Business Growth: Your company's growth, which might push your numbering systems, especially in tax software, to their limits or constraints.
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Future Planning: Anticipating how your business and team will evolve in the coming months and years.
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Existing Structure: An already existing numbering structure that you want to replace or transition into a new system.
Criteria for assigning numbers in your business model can include:
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Workflow Management: Daily handling of item and document numbers in your workflow for goods and teams.
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Number Range Lengths: Sufficient number range lengths for the next 18 months of document numbers.
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Data Structuring: Clean structuring of your data for future analysis.
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Tax Office Requirements: Monthly requirements for your tax office, including customer, vendor, and document numbers.
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Concentrate on the most important aspects. It is often not possible to meet all requirements, meaning that compromises may be necessary. For example, it might be necessary to make concessions during data import to support a new structure or to clarify dependencies with third-party systems. As a rule, a solution that considers the most important criteria can be found.
When selecting your number ranges, consider the upcoming year change and decide how you want to handle numbers in this regard. Number ranges in Xentral automatically increment the last sequence of digits and are continuous. However, the number ranges are not automatically reset at the year change. You can let sufficiently large number ranges - e.g. six-digit document number ranges - continue across the year change. Alternatively, you can choose a variable for the year, which automatically adjusts over the year change. Keep in mind that the consecutive number does not automatically reset. You must do this manually on January 1st before the new year begins.
You can use the customer and supplier numbers from Xentral for DATEV without maintaining a separate debtor and creditor number in Xentral. DATEV expects five to seven-digit numbers, depending on settings and account charts.
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Here are some tips for using number ranges with DATEV:
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Do not use letters or other variables in your customer or supplier numbers.
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Only use the same number of digits for customer and supplier numbers.
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Select the number ranges according to DATEV requirements and coordinate this with your tax office (e.g., SKR04 with five-digit debitor and creditor numbers: Debitors from 10000 to 69999, creditors from 70000 to 99999).
Exemple SKR04:
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Debitoren (Kunden) 10000–69999: Debitorenkonten werden in diesem Bereich geführt.
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Kreditoren (Lieferanten) 70000–99999: Kreditorenkonten werden in diesem Bereich geführt.
Exemple B2C and B2B:
Im SKR04 können B2B- und B2C-Kunden durch getrennte Nummernkreise klar voneinander abgegrenzt werden: Beispielsweise könnten B2B-Kunden die Nummern 10000–19999 erhalten, wie ein Großhändler für Elektronik (10001) oder ein Maschinenbauunternehmen (10002), während B2C-Kunden die Nummern 20000–69999 nutzen, wie ein Privatkunde aus dem Online-Shop (20001) oder ein Einzelkunde im stationären Handel (20123). Diese Unterteilung schafft Übersichtlichkeit, erleichtert das Reporting, sichert die Revisionssicherheit und bietet ausreichend Raum, um das höhere Kundenaufkommen im B2C-Bereich zu bewältigen.
Customer orders from your online shop are automatically converted into sales orders with their own Xentral sales order numbers when imported into Xentral. You can view the shop order number in the quick preview of the order or find it using the search in the sales order overview. Your shop order number is also used, for example, for assigning payments.
Item numbers are either imported into Xentral via data imports, manually created by your team in the item section, or transferred to Xentral via shop orders. If you use different shops and platforms with different item numbers/SKUs, the assignment is done via external numbers.
When number ranges for debtors, creditors, or documents overflow—e.g., due to a large number of B2C customers—there are several strategies to address the issue. Here are some solutions:
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Extending Number Ranges:
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Longer Numbers: Increase the number of digits, e.g., from 5 to 6 or 7 digits.Example: Instead of 10000 → 1000001.
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Splitting Number Ranges: Use specific prefixes or additional digits to create subdivisions.Example: B2B customers: 1xxxx; B2C customers: 2xxxx, or: B2B customers: A1xxxx; B2C customers: B2xxxx.
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Using Alphanumeric Numbers:
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Instead of purely numeric numbers, alphanumeric numbering can be implemented. Example: B2C10001, B2B10001.
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Year-Based Number Separation:
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Year-Specific Numbers: Integrate the year into the number range, so each new period starts with its own range. Example: 2510001 for the year 2025. Benefit: The numbers reset annually without losing clarity.
Caution
Utilize year-based variables (see below) to automate this process.
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Separate Number Ranges by Customer Groups:
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Differentiate by customer type: Example: B2B customers → 10000–19999; B2C customers → 20000–69999.
Caution
If the B2C number range is insufficient, you can add a prefix (e.g., a letter) that you remove during the DATEV export. Ensure that B2C debtors remain within the 20000–69999 range annually, with only the prefix changing before the range overflows.
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Assess whether all Debtors are necessary:
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In the B2C sector, recurring customers can be grouped under a generic debtor (e.g., 'B2C-Grouped Debtor') to reduce individual entries.
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Combining Multiple Strategies:
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Combine year-based numbering with customer groups. Example: 25-B2C-10001 for a B2C customer in 2025, or A-10001 for 2025 and B-10001 for 2026.
Caution
Use year variables or a system-wide prefix that can be trimmed during the accounting export. Ensure consistent prefixes, such as X-, across all systems.
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A clear structure for customer and supplier numbers, document numbers, and item numbers simplifies your daily work, helps you quickly find data, create accurate reports, and ensure smooth processes such as accounting or inventory management.
Assigning customer and supplier numbers is essential for the clear organization and management of your master data. Customer numbers (debtors) and supplier numbers (creditors) should be designed to support your internal workflows and be easily understandable for your team. A well-thought-out structure helps you quickly locate customer and supplier data, generate reports efficiently, and meet the requirements of your accounting team or tax office.
Document numbers form the foundation for tracking your business processes and ensuring the legal compliance of your records. They serve as unique identifiers for offers, orders, invoices, credit notes, delivery notes, and other documents. A clear and consistent numbering system not only streamlines daily workflows but is also critical for accounting, archiving, and tax audits.
A well-structured product numbering system is key to managing your inventory effectively. Product numbers should not only be unique but also support your internal processes and logistics. Whether you work with product categories or assign individual product numbers, a good structure helps manage stock, conduct analyses, and avoid errors in operations.
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Related Links:
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Product Numbers and Categories: Artikelnummernkreis und SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) (Xentral Artikelkategorien)
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Mapping Numbers to External Systems (e.g., Shops): Mapping products from external systems to Xentral - External item numbers and Artikelbaum.
If the central number range for your Xentral system is not sufficient, you can define new number ranges for individual sales channels. One reason might be that your online shop generates a very large volume of orders and the central number range in Xentral, which you have set up for B2B customers, is not sufficient. In this case, you can set up a separate number range for one or more sales channels (equal to one project).
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Consider if you really need this additional complexity in the system, or if it is more of a visual distinction that can be achieved in other ways (e.g., by filtering by projects or creating a report in Xentral).
Reasons for a project-related number range could be:
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The system-wide Xentral number range is not sufficient for a single sales channel.
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You want to separate B2B and B2C for tax purposes.
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You have sales channels in other countries and want to label the number ranges for a project.
You can define project-related number ranges as follows:
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Navigate to Master Data > Project.
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Open the desired project by clicking on it.
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Switch to the Settings tab and then to the Own Number Ranges sub-tab.
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Activate the option Own number ranges.
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Click Save.
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Adjust the desired number range by clicking on edit.
Warning
If you are using project-related number ranges, we strongly recommend setting up unique number ranges for each document type. If you do not define a number range for a specific document type, the system starts counting from 1. This can lead to conflicts if the numbers match those in the general number range.
For more information on projects, click here.
If you want to introduce Xentral in your company, it is important to set up the number ranges correctly in advance. Xentral comes with pre-configured number ranges that are adapted to SKR04 and suitable for medium-sized companies.
In the standard configuration, the number ranges are set so that the number ranges for various document types such as quotation, order, invoice, credit note, etc., provide space for one hundred thousand documents before the number range is “full”. For most companies in the B2B segment or with mixed business models (B2B + B2C) with medium shop and platform volumes, this is sufficient for several years.
If the number of digits in the documents is not sufficient for the coming year, you may want to consider extending the numbers with additional zeros at the end. This would save you from completely adjusting the number ranges at the turn of the year.
Preconfigured Number Range in Xentral (Example for the Most Important Documents)
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Offer number: 100000
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Sales Order number: 200000
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Delivery Note number: 300000
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Invoice number: 400000
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Credit number: 900000
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Purchase Order number: 100000
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Customer number: 10000
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Supplier number: 70000
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Employee number: 90000
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Article number: 1000000
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The standard settings in Xentral offer some advantages:
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No Overlaps in Number Ranges: Customers (debtors) and suppliers (creditors) have separate number ranges:
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10.000-69.999 (Customer numbers)
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70.000-99.999 (Supplier numbers)
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Quick Identification of Documents: Documents can be quickly identified based on the first digit and all have the same number of digits. Invoice and credit note numbers are uniquely identifiable system-wide.
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Compatibility with SKR04 in DATEV: The number ranges are adapted to the SKR04 chart of accounts in DATEV, which facilitates collaboration with the tax office.
Follow these steps to change the default number range:
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Navigate to Administration > System > Basic Settings > Settings tab > Sub-tab Number Ranges.
Warning
Make sure no one on your team is creating documents simultaneously when you change the number ranges. Ideally, you are about to start with Xentral and modify the number ranges before going live with Xentral.
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Click edit next to the desired number and assign a new "next" number.
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Click OK to confirm.
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Repeat these steps for all number ranges you wish to change.
Warning
Avoid duplicate number ranges. Make sure there is no overlap between the new and previously assigned numbers. The current number will be displayed to you.
If you wish to expand your number range, you can append additional zeros at the end.
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When defining a number range, keep the following in mind:
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The number ranges must be different and should not overlap. For example, Customers: 100000 and Suppliers: 700000 (SKR04).
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You can use letters in document numbers. Make sure there is a consecutive number at the end, e.g., 10000 (Xentral only continuously increments the last number. The exception is obviously variables).
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The number of characters should not change (do not start with 1, but for example, 100001).
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Use the same number of characters for supplier and customer numbers. Ideally, the numbers should be 5, 6, or 7 digits long and not contain letters, to be suitable for exporting to your accounting system.
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Do not use special characters such as spaces, periods, commas, colons, semicolons, and umlauts.
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Project-specific number ranges must not be identical. You can identify them by a letter or numerical code at the beginning (e.g., AZ100000 or 321000000, 111000000, etc.).
If you want to automatically include the year in your document numbers, you can assign a variable for this purpose.
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If you want to insert the year before your consecutive document number, you can use the following format:
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{JAHR}-100000 will give you document numbers 2023-100000, 2023-100001, … , 2023-199999. The year will automatically update at the turn of the year.
Important: The consecutive number does not automatically reset to 100000. You can do this manually on January 1st to start again with the full number range.
These variables are available to you in Xentral:
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{JAHR} → Variable for the year
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{MONAT} → Variable for the month
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{TAG} → Variable for the current day
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{KW} → Variable for the current calendar week
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{ADRESSE_} → Document address contents, e.g. {ADRESSE_LAND}, {ADRESSE_KUNDENNUMMER}, {ADRESSE_FREIFELD1}. Xentral accesses the address table and the field designation here.
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These date formats are often used in the B2B sector to uniquely assign high-priced items. In the B2C sector with high throughput, it is advisable to use longer document numbers or identifiers with year or letters. You can choose between system-wide or project-related settings for channels with high volume.
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Warning duplicate no. → A system message that appears in the header in Xentral when duplicate customer, item, invoice, or credit note numbers have been assigned.
Warning
Make sure that the number ranges are unique and do not overlap, especially if you are integrating imports via API and third-party systems into Xentral.
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Duplicate serial numbers warning → A system message that appears in the header in Xentral when a duplicate serial number has been assigned.
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Sort receipt number numerically → In Xentral, document overviews are sorted alphabetically by default. Only change the sorting to numerical if you do not use letters and special characters in your document numbers.