How Can You Change the Invoice Number Sequence in QB Desktop?

I use QuickBooks. I'm not saying I LIKE QuickBooks, I'm saying I use it. Oftentimes it makes me crazy with how hard it is to figure out simple things -- like, when you set up a new set of books, how to change the invoicing number sequence.

QB Invoice Number: How Hard Can It Be to Change?

That should be pretty simple and, when you dig through all the information about the QB Online version - to get to the information about the desktop version (for literally an hour or more) -  you still can't find the answer.

And don't tell me to give up or give in and just go with QB online. The answer is no. NOPE. I do NOT like subscription services where you are expected to pay monthly for the privilege of accessing your own data. Call me crazy. I pay for these types of programs and install them locally on my computer. I prefer to OWN the software... at least for as long as I can... until there is no other option. Hopefully by then I'll be retired or suddenly crazy-wealthy or something, and I won't have to subscribe to them then either.

Anyway, you won't see me doing Office 365 or QB online. Sure, I have fallen prey to a few of those services, but not for my financials and not for my basic word processing and spreadsheet use.

The Problem With Auto-Numbering in QuickBooks Desktop

I started a new set of books for a new company structure this year. When I tried to continue the invoice sequence my customers were accustomed to seeing, it didn't work. I would put in the invoice number I wanted manually, save the invoice and then hit "new" invoice and QB would revert back to invoice 0008 when the invoice that SHOULD have sequenced next was 16399.

I tried getting out of QB and going back in. Nope. I did it again -- because I was desperate and I was sick of looking online for an answer. (I am really good at finding answers online -- seriously -- so when I get stumped, it hurts my heart a little.)

Eventually, I broke down and called my aunt (who is a CPA and basically a genius about all things QB and finances for small business) and told her I'd wasted over an hour of my life, and asked if she knew how I could align the invoice numbers from the old company structure to the new set of books for the new company structure, so invoices stayed in the same universe, number-wise, for my clients. 

Yes, she said, you need to do the following...

How to Change the Invoice Number Sequence in QB Desktop

1. Create a bogus invoice with the right number -- the number you want.
2. Print that invoice (I saved it as a PDF and it worked just fine).
3. Then log out of your QuickBooks Desktop program.
4. Go back into QB and go to the invoice you printed.
5. Hit the "next" button (this is the forward, pointing to the right, arrow button in the ribbon above the word "find"). 

Amazingly, it finally "auto-populated" the next number in the invoice sequence I wanted.

I had been hitting "save and new" which did NOT make it go to the next invoice number above the one I typed in manually -- instead, it reverted to the old 0008. Who knew, Right? My aunt did. She told me QB was a little quirky about such things -- something I already knew. Quickbooks is quirky about a LOT of things. Anyway...

I just thought I'd share this, for those out there searching the Internet for the solution to how to get your Quickbooks to auto-sequence from a custom invoice number.

I hope this helps save someone else an hour of their lives! And a big thank you to my Aunt, who saved the day!