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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / How to Delete Purchase...
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Suggested Answer

How to Delete Purchase Invoice Showing “Already Exists” Error (Auto Number Series)

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Posted on by CU06050801-1 32

Hi Community,

I am facing an issue in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central where I am unable to delete a Purchase Invoice and getting an "already exists" error. Both invoice numbers were automatically assigned by the number series — I did not manually enter any numbers.

Steps That Led to This Issue:


  1. BC auto-assigned PPI-004894 to a new Purchase Invoice

  2. I deleted that invoice before posting

  3. Created another Purchase Invoice — BC auto-assigned the same number PPI-004894 again

  4. Now I cannot delete or post this invoice

  5. Error message says: "PPI-004894 already exists"

What I Have Already Checked:


  • The number appears in both Purchase Invoices (unposted) and Posted Purchase Invoices

  • The number series seems to have reassigned a previously used number

  • No payments or applications are linked to it

What I Need Help With:


  1. How can I safely delete this Purchase Invoice?

  2. Should I cancel the Posted Purchase Invoice first before deleting the unposted one?

  3. How do I prevent the number series from reassigning already used numbers in the future?

  4. Is there a risk of audit or accounting issues if I cancel the posted invoice?

Environment:


  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Cloud/SaaS)

  • Purchase Invoices Module

  • Number Series — Auto Assignment

Screenshots:

  • Purchase Invoice list showing PPI-004894 (unposted)
          

  • Posted Purchase Invoice list showing PPI-004894 (posted)
         

Thank you in advance for any guidance!

Categories:
Dynamics 365 Business Central
I have the same question (0)
  • Suggested answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 101,723 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    This is a bit strange; the numbers in No. Series automatically increase. This problem usually doesn't occur. You can check this first.
     
    It seems this Purchase Invoice hasn't been posted yet, right? You can delete it directly. When a PI is created again, a new Posted No. will be automatically assigned.
     
    PS: Dynamics 365 Business Central: Empty Posted Sales Invoice with only one comment “Document created to avoid gap in No. Series”? Why?
     
    Thanks.
    ZHU
  • Suggested answer
    OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture
    OussamaSabbouh 17,104 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hello ,
    This is most likely a duplicate number series issue, not something caused by payments, so the safe approach is don’t cancel the posted purchase invoice unless that posted invoice is actually wrong; if it’s valid, keep it, because canceling it will create a corrective purchase credit memo and leave an audit trail, which is standard but unnecessary if the real problem is only the duplicate number on the unposted invoice. The fix is usually to check the No. Series / Purchases & Payables Setup and find out why BC reused a number that should have stayed unique, then remove or recreate the unposted invoice with a new valid number. Also, for financial documents, Microsoft’s guidance is basically that number series should stay continuous and unique, so reused posted numbers usually point to setup changes or customization, not normal behavior.
     
    Regards,
    Oussama Sabbouh
  • Suggested answer
    Khushbu Rajvi. Profile Picture
    Khushbu Rajvi. 22,551 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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