Your Bilty Number, Your Series — Not Software
Your bilty book says GR-4501. Your software says LR0001. Two numbers for one load is how disputes start. Set your own series for bilty, trip and invoice numbers — and keep counting from where your book stopped.
Every transport office already has a numbering system. It is usually a printed bilty book with `GR-4501` on the top copy, an invoice file that runs `EQU/26-27/118`, and a trip register the munim has been keeping since before the computer arrived.
Then new software arrives and calls the same load LR0001.
Now the party's accountant has one number, your driver has another, and your own register has a third. When a payment is disputed eight months later, nobody can match the three. That is not a software problem — it is a numbering problem, and it is completely avoidable.
In TransportMaster you set the series yourself.
Three series, all yours
Open Settings → Number Series and you will see three boxes:
Type the starting number, not just a prefix. `GR4501` means the next bilty is GR4501, then GR4502, then GR4503. The software reads the digits at the end and counts on from there.
If you type letters only — say `GR` — it starts at `GR0001`. Both work. Enter it the way your book reads.
Continue from your old bilty book
This is the part that matters on day one.
Most transporters do not start from zero. They have a half-finished bilty book in the drawer with `GR-4500` torn out. So when you move to software, you should not restart at 1 — you should carry on.
Put `GR4501` in the LR series and the very first bilty printed from the software is GR4501. Your book and your software become one continuous series. No gap, no duplicate, nothing to explain to an auditor.
Same for invoices. If your last bill of the year was `EQU-117`, enter `EQU-118` and the next invoice is exactly that.
Changing it later does not renumber old papers
A fair worry: "If I change the prefix in March, will my old bilties change?"
No. Old documents keep the number they were printed with, always. The new setting is used when a series starts from it — the numbers already issued continue from the last number used. Nothing that is already in a party's file gets rewritten.
The message on screen says exactly that when you save, so nobody has to guess.
You can still type a number by hand
Auto-numbering is for speed, not for handcuffs. On the trip form, under More Details, the LR number is an ordinary box — type whatever the physical bilty in your hand says.
And if the number you type has already been used on another trip, the software does not throw an error and lose your entry. It quietly steps to the next free number and saves. That one behaviour has saved a lot of re-typing in busy offices.
Why one number per load is worth the five minutes
- Payment follow-up is faster. "Balance against GR-4512" — the party's accountant finds it in one search because it is the number on the paper they filed.
- Disputes end sooner. One load, one number, on the bilty, in the ledger, and on the invoice.
- GST and audit are cleaner. Invoice series stay unbroken across the financial year.
- Staff make fewer mistakes. People type what they read. If the screen matches the book, there is nothing to translate.
How to set it up (two minutes)
1. Open Settings → Number Series
2. Take your bilty book and your last invoice out of the drawer
3. Enter the next number of each series — `GR4501`, `TB001`, `EQU-118`
4. Save. The screen confirms all three
5. Create one test trip and print the bilty — check the number reads the way your book does
Do this before you enter a month of old trips, not after. Five minutes at the start saves a re-numbering exercise later.
Questions transporters ask
Can I use letters and numbers together?
Yes. Letters and digits both work, up to 10 characters — `SSL-001`, `GR4501`, `TB26001`.
Can each of my branches have its own series?
Each account has its own three series. Offices that bill separately usually keep separate accounts, and each one numbers independently.
What if two people create a trip at the same moment?
Each gets its own number. Numbers are handed out one at a time, never reused.
Can I go back to the default?
Yes — change the box to `TB`, `LR` or `INV` and save. Old documents stay exactly as printed.
Does the bilty design change if I change the number?
No. The number and the design are separate. Your custom bilty design stays as it is.
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Software should fit the office, not the other way around. Your parties already know your bilty numbers — keep them.
See it on TransportMaster — open Settings, put in your own series, and print one bilty to check.
More for transport offices: design your own bilty and memo · download all your data in one Excel file · email bilty and bills straight from the software