Name
This is the name / description of the sequence number. You can enter it in multiple languages, see translation field.

Pattern
Pattern, by which the sequence number is generated. You can enter any text here as well as placeholders that are replaced by the application with numbers (see "Placeholders" below). For example, the placeholder $y represents the current year.

Example
Example of a generated sequence number from your pattern.

Skip existing numbers automatically
If this is set, then we check if the number already exists when assigning the next sequence number, and if so, we increment the number until we find a free number (a maximum of 100 numbers are skipped).

Placeholders
Placeholders (variables) can be used in the pattern to generate a sequence number. In the description column you'll find information about what the placeholder represents. So $y for the current year, $m for the current month, etc.

For example, if you have "$y" in the pattern, the example will be "13" (abbreviated from 2013).

The number of digits for the placeholders can be configured by clicking on the value in the last column. For year 1-4 is possible, for month 1-2, etc.

Next to year, month and day there are various sequence numbers as placeholders that are reset to 1 at different points in time. Sequence number here simply means a number that is increased by 1 with every new entry (e.g. article, invoice). The sequence number with the placeholder $nd is reset to 1 daily. $nm is reset monthly, $ny yearly and $nn never.

In the column "Current value" you'll see the current value of the placeholder (with the number of digits that are configured in the last column). You can override the values that are underlined in blue by clicking on them.

Please be careful: Don't reset a value to a number that could lead to this sequence number already existing somewhere (e.g. an article that already uses this sequence number). The application doesn't restrict you from doing so but you'll get an error message when creating a new article.

After saving the sequence number, it will be used e.g. for the next invoice. Already existing invoices will not be touched.