These fields (combined with the Funeral Reference Number) are important to understand if your client has decided to have a bespoke funeral reference number pattern.
All the activities described in this article are reserved for Admin level Users.
Sequential Number
When a funeral is created (literally when you click the 'Create' button on the review screen of the Funeral Wizard), Obit reads the counter for the branch in question.
The counter is the 'Last Funeral Number (Company)' field in the Companies / General screen.
Assume the number of the counter is 5, Obit will add 1 to that and write 6 into the Sequential Number for the funeral just created.
At the same time, the number is indexed at the Branch level, i.e. the Last Funeral Number (Company) is increased to 6 also.
Can the Sequential Number be changed ?
Yes - but bear in mind that the funeral reference number will change if you click the 'Regenerate Funeral Reference' button in the Deceased screen.
Also - consider the appropriate value for the Branch counter - almost certainly that must also be changed.
I've assigned the funeral to the wrong branch - can I change?
Yes - you can change, but bear in mind that the Branch counter for the receiving branch should be increased and the branch counter for the 'donating' branch needs to be decreased.
I've cancelled or deleted a funeral - what should I change ?
You should reduce the branch counter immediately - if other funerals have been created in the meantime that may not be possible. While you can 'fill' such gaps, doing so requires careful attention.
I have a -2 at the end of my funeral reference - why did Obit do that ?
It means the reference already is assigned to another funeral due to incomplete changes. The issue can be resolved by cheking carefully the state of the branch counters, amending the reference numbers and finally setting the branch counter correctly.