If you open a new invoice and see "Draft" where the invoice number should be, that's expected. Rebill only assigns a number when the invoice first leaves draft status, not when you create it.
Why numbers are assigned when the invoice leaves draft, not on create
South African tax law expects your invoice numbers to run in an unbroken sequence, with no gaps and no duplicates. If Rebill assigned a number the moment you clicked "Create Invoice", every abandoned draft, every invoice you started and never sent, would burn a number and leave a gap in your sequence. Instead, the number is assigned the first time the invoice leaves draft status. Most often that is when you send it or mark it as sent, but recording a payment against it (including matching a bank transaction to it during bank import), or a client opening its payment link, also triggers numbering. Once assigned, the number stays with the invoice permanently.
Where you will see "Draft" instead of a number
The invoice list, the invoice detail page, and any exported PDF or delivery note show "Draft" in place of a number until a number is assigned. Once assigned, the number appears everywhere and never changes.Tip
Deleting a draft invoice does not use up a number, since none was ever assigned. Only invoices that actually leave draft status consume a number, so your sequence stays gapless even if you create and discard several drafts.You can review or set the next invoice number in Settings > Documents > Invoice defaults.