How to use & Ampersand in your number sequence

This post will explore the setup of number sequence in Dynamics 365 (D365), and how to use Ampersand (&) in the setup of a number sequence in D365 and its limitations. First, we will delve into what number sequences are and why they are important in D365.

Number sequences are ordered sets of numbers that follow a specific pattern or rule. In the field of accounting, number sequences are of great importance for various applications. They are used to organize financial transactions, such as invoice numbers, purchase order numbers, or sales orders, ensuring that each transaction is uniquely identified and recorded. Number sequences also play a crucial role in generating financial statements, such as balance sheets and income statements, where sequential numbering is essential for proper reporting. Moreover, number sequences are utilized in tracking and reconciling accounts. By implementing well-structured number sequences, accounting professionals can ensure accuracy, maintain proper documentation, and facilitate efficient financial analysis and auditing processes.

Number sequence in D365 is usually something you set and forget it. When we set up a number sequence, we need to consider the application of the number sequence. How it should be used, how many numbers we need, what kind of identification we want on the number, etc. The number sequence in D365 consists of 3 building blocks, Constants, Company and Alphanumeric. We will only focus on Alphanumeric in this post. We can use two types of alphanumeric characters in our number sequence “#” for incrementing number and “&” for incrementing letters.

Here it is a no brainer that incrementing letters will enable you to have more numbers in your number sequence. As and example the license plate in Denmark as the following Sequence &&##### this provides roughly 3.5 times as many combinations compared to #######.

The way the number sequence setup works in D365 is no matter which alphanumeric character you choose for your number sequence. You will be constrained by the “Largest” in the Number Allocation. One would assume that “&” will add 26 possible numbers. However, the number allocation is constrained by the number of alphanumeric characters you have. A number sequence with one alphanumeric character will therefore only be able to run from 1-9 including 9 no matter if you use “#” or “&”. If you try to add 26 as the largest you will receive the following error:

Thus, if you want to include incrementing letters in your number sequence remember to add a 9 for each alphanumeric character you have in your number sequence. For the following number sequence &&### your largest can be between 1-99999 even though the theoretical max would be 492804.

As a conclusion it is possible to use incrementing letters in your number sequence in D365, however at the time of writing there is no volume benefit of using incrementing letters.

Thank you for taking time to read this blog post! I hope you found the information useful and that it will help you in your own endeavors. For more articles on reporting and ERP solutions, check out our blog. If you have any questions or suggestions on what to cover next, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I'm always happy to help and engage with my readers.