Over the course of the continuous integration between companies and tax authorities, the topic of official document numbering (ODN) is becoming more and more important.
Authorities are increasingly acting based on a single identifier that runs through the entire business process, for example, from customer invoicing to payment and tax reporting.
What are Official Document Numbers (ODNs)?
ODN (Official document numbering) is the number that companies have to assign to certain business documents, issued to customers and to tax authorities, adhering to specific rules determined by the legal authorities in a prescribed format. This format consists of numbers, letters and also some business fields.
The ODN comes on top of the number assigned by accounting applications. It can be:
- either assigned by government authorities
- or built in system according to specific rules defined by government authorities
Examples where an ODN can be applicable:
- Customer invoice
- Customer credit memo/debit memo
- Supplier invoices
- Purchase orders/return purchase orders
- Settlement management
- Delivery note
