Trying to determine if the 14-character limit applies to our context or not

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Posted on by Frank Pellerin

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We're using an API to create customer payments in the receipt journals. In this context, we plan to use our own identifier as the document number (instead of the sequence defined in Business Central). The identifier we plan to use has more than 14 characters.

I read this article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-ca/dynamics365/business-central/ui-create-number-series

In this article, even though the document number is 20 characters long, there are some situations where we should use a number shorter than 14 characters.

We're now trying to determine if the 14-character limit applies to our context or not.

Questions...
I assume so... but does this recommendation still apply when we provide our own document number?

The article states: "If you expect to process more than 9999 documents in bank or GIRO journals, or cash receipt journals, set up number series for those types of documents to include fewer than 14 characters."

Question: In the context of cash receipt journals, does "process more than 9,999 documents" mean "report more than 9,999 documents in a single batch"?

The article states: "There are some situations where Business Central will append a number with a system-generated ID.".

Question: Other than the processing of 9999 documents, what other situation might require an id fewer than 14 characters? Is there a list of that situations?

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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Khushbu Rajvi. 14,928 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at

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Trying to determine if the 14-character limit applies to our context or not

The 14-character limit for document numbers still applies in Business Central, even if you use your own document number, as the system may append a generated ID. This limitation also applies when processing over 9,999 documents or in situations like applying payments to invoices.
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Jainam M. Kothari 6,567 on at

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Trying to determine if the 14-character limit applies to our context or not

Hello,

Yes, the 14-character limit recommendation still applies even if you provide your own document number, as Business Central may append a system-generated ID in certain situations. The "process more than 9,999 documents" refers to the total number of documents processed over time, not just in a single batch. Besides processing more than 9,999 documents, other situations requiring fewer than 14 characters include applying transactions like payments to invoices, where a system-assigned ID might be appended to your document number. Unfortunately, there isn't a comprehensive list of all such situations.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/ui-create-number-series
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YUN ZHU 81,794 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at

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Trying to determine if the 14-character limit applies to our context or not

I think this is not a limitation of BC, but a limitation when connecting with external systems. You can try it first, and if there is no error, it's fine.

Thanks.

ZHU
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Ramesh Kumar 3,501 on at

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Trying to determine if the 14-character limit applies to our context or not

I think Technically, no hard limit of 14 characters is enforced by the system when using custom document numbers via the API — the field length is 20 characters (Code[20]). However, the 14-character guideline still matters in specific scenarios, especially for bank integration or payment export processes, where BC appends a suffix to the document number. So, if you don’t use any payment export functionality (e.g. Giro/SEPA exports), you’re safe to use your 20-character custom identifier.

I would suggest Stick to 14 characters only if you’re using functionality that will auto-append suffixes (e.g., payment exports, journal batches large volume).

Thanks

Ramesh

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