When your BrokerForce™ database was converted to a replicated database that can synchronize, the Auto-Number fields that BrokerForce™ uses internally for your CustomerID, VendorID, and OrderID fields changed from incremental to random numbering.  These numbers can also be negative numbers. 

All existing AutoNumber fields retain their values, but new values for inserted rows are random numbers.  If the numbers were incremental, two users working independently would be very likely to use the same number for different records.  With random Auto-Number fields, the probability of having duplicates is very, very low.  Auto number fields are meaningless in terms of the order of entry and other place keepers such as the order date should be used to determine the sequence of order entry.

PO numbers should be generated by the customer's purchase order system however, if your customer does not use a purchase order system, the number that BrokerForce™ offers to assign is based on the OrderID that is generated internally by BrokerForce™ as an auto number field.  You are welcome to invent your own unique PO number but, this becomes more difficult to manage as the probability of duplication increases with the number of reps in your group.  If the random PO generated is cut down from as many as 10 digits to 5 digits, your agency has an increasingly higher probability of duplicating the same PO# for different orders.  We recommend that the number not be trimmed to less than 7 digits.