Invoice numbers tell any member roughly how much business the deployment does #60

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2026-09-21T07:18:18Z

cgalo5758 commented

2026-09-21 07:18:18 +00:00

The question

Platform invoice numbers come from a single counter across the whole deployment, formatted as four digits. A member holding two invoices can read the deployment's total volume from the first and its rate from the difference, the way wartime analysts estimated production from serial numbers. Numbering cannot simply be randomized: sequential, unique and gapless numbering is a tax requirement in many jurisdictions. So which numbering scheme does the console use?

What depends on the answer

What a number reveals, and how numbers already issued are treated, since an issued number is immutable and any new scheme starts at a cutover rather than rewriting history.

Options known so far

Start the sequence at an arbitrary number: hides the absolute total, not the rate between two invoices. Cosmetic.
A sequence per year, reset each year: a leak reveals at most the current year's volume. The common recommendation.
A sequence per billing account: a member learns only their own count, and the guidance that is strictest about gapless numbering explicitly allows several ranges as long as each is consistent within itself. Every organization already has a billing account, so the ranges exist.

Per billing account fits this model best and keeps the numbers short.

Decided when

The billing model names the scheme, says what happens to numbers issued under the old one, and the assignment code implements exactly that.

Migrated from status/issues.md at b7a0e15

## The question Platform invoice numbers come from a single counter across the whole deployment, formatted as four digits. A member holding two invoices can read the deployment's total volume from the first and its rate from the difference, the way wartime analysts estimated production from serial numbers. Numbering cannot simply be randomized: sequential, unique and gapless numbering is a tax requirement in many jurisdictions. So which numbering scheme does the console use? ## What depends on the answer What a number reveals, and how numbers already issued are treated, since an issued number is immutable and any new scheme starts at a cutover rather than rewriting history. ## Options known so far - Start the sequence at an arbitrary number: hides the absolute total, not the rate between two invoices. Cosmetic. - A sequence per year, reset each year: a leak reveals at most the current year's volume. The common recommendation. - A sequence per billing account: a member learns only their own count, and the guidance that is strictest about gapless numbering explicitly allows several ranges as long as each is consistent within itself. Every organization already has a billing account, so the ranges exist. Per billing account fits this model best and keeps the numbers short. ## Decided when The billing model names the scheme, says what happens to numbers issued under the old one, and the assignment code implements exactly that. Migrated from status/issues.md at b7a0e15

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Reference: wiki-cafe/member-console#60