Invoice number skipped

Hi @anabellafp,

We have a small plugin that will allow you to view more information about the invoice number assignment: you can download this here: https://github.com/wpovernight/woocommerce-pdf-ips-number-tools/releases/download/v2.1/woocommerce-pdf-ips-number-tools.zip

After installing, you will see a new tab “Number tools” in the PDF invoice settings. If you go to this tab and click the “Invoice Numbers” section, you should see a list of all numbers assigned to orders since the last ‘reset’ of the next invoice number. Could you check this to see which order the missing invoice number was assigned to?

Hi Darren,

Thank you so much for your reply.

I installed the plugin and I can see that the missing invoice number (111) was assigned to order #3977 (failed order).

Please note:

– In my settings, the plugin is configured to issue invoices for COMPLETED orders only. Why did it issue an invoice for a FAILED order?

– Order #4043 (with invoice 110) was made on the 9th February 2022
– Order #4044 (with invoice 112) was made on the 11th February 2022
– Order #3977 (INVOICE NUMBER 111) was made on the 9TH DECEMBER 2021 > how was this invoice number assigned to this order months ago?

Thanks again

@anabellafp,

My guess is that someone was messing with the order status of this failed order or a plugin did, changing it to Completed somewhere between the dates of Feb 9th & Feb 11th. This would make that order pick up the next invoice number.
Are you able to check the Order Notes of this order? Those usually mention the status changes with the dates they occurred.
What was the payment method of this failed order?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Darren Peyou.

Hi Darren,

The order never went through a “Completed” status.
I checked the order notes and this is the only note “Stripe SCA identification has failed”. That’s all, there haven’t been any changes or updates to this order.

The payment method was Stripe.

Any thoughts?

There can be a variety of reasons for the invoice to have been created.

First of all, you wrote “the plugin is configured to issue invoices for COMPLETED orders only.” – are you referring to the “Attach to:” setting, or have you added all other statuses to the “Disable for:” setting? The “Attach to:” setting merely controls when the invoice is created automatically, but if you don’t disable the invoice for other statuses, it can still be created manually by the admin:

• Via the bulk actions on the Orders overview
• Via the individual order action button in the Orders overview
• Via the “PDF invoice” button on the order details page

This must have been done somewhere between february 9 and february 11.

Hi Ewout,

Thanks a lot.
I think you are right: this is the first time that this happens, so I am guessing that someone in my team probably clicked on the “Invoice” icon on the orders page.

What I mean is: if I go to WooCommerce > orders > the last column called “Actions” has the little icon for the invoices. If the invoice has been created, then the icon has a green checkmark. If there’s no invoice for that order, the icon doesn’t have a green checkmark, but if someone clicks on it then the invoice is automatically generated, right?

If so, then that’s probably what happened in this case…

I appreciate your support

the icon doesn’t have a green checkmark, but if someone clicks on it then the invoice is automatically generated, right?

Yes, 100% correct!
If you want to prevent this from happening you can add statuses like Failed and Cancelled to the “Disable for:” setting (Documents > Invoice)

Hi @dpeyou,

I’m facing the same issue and therefore activated your plugin to view the information about the invoice numbers, unfortunately I cannot see the list you were talinkg about.

View post on imgur.com

Is there something else I have to do before the list appears?

Thank you!