Invoice Character Limit

[sgreer]

Is there a parameter in B&I that controls the max length of an invoice number? Is there any documentation out there that I can reference? Our customer's ERP has a limit of 16 characters and we want to limit the invoice numbers from suppliers to be 16 characters or less.

Thanks.

[cristian_fortuna · Accepted solution]

Hey, You can limit the maximum number of characters for invoice numbers by following the below steps:

1. Sign in to the Ariba Network
2. Click Administration > Configuration
3. Click Document Number Preferences
4. Under Invoice, click Create > enter the desired character limit in the box to the right of Maximum length > click OK

Hope This help.

[sgreer · Accepted solution]

Yes, that is what I did and it looked to stop the manual PO flip if the invoice # was greater than 16 characters, as expected. Do you know, Would this stop an invoice that went through cXML/EDI integration as well, similar to the transaction rules? Thank you!

[Eric_Yu · Accepted solution]

We helped you to accept the answer, since there were no updates after 7 days.

You can unaccept it anytime if you have further questions.

[sgreer]

Great, thank you! I will give that a shot.

[Anand_Bhat]

> Would this stop an invoice that went through cXML/EDI integration as well, similar to the transaction rules?

I'd expect this to behave the same way. I'm sorry but it's been a few years now and I cannot recall if it did.

[Anand_Bhat]

The AN has several configuration options for invoice numbering, one of which is the maximum length permitted. Setting this here ensures supplier invoices conform to the length constraints imposed by ERP.

If you're entering invoices directly in B&I, I'm not aware of a parameter that controls this. A custom validation on the invoice number could possibly be explored to restrict user entry to 16 characters.

[sgreer]

I did a manual push of an invoice through a TEST supplier account and it worked as expected, stopping the invoice from being submitted as it was 17 characters. Would this stop an invoice that went through cXML/EDI integration as well, similar to the transaction rules?