This is my best attempt to emulate what you’re saying. Let me know if I’m understanding you correctly.
In order to stay within the 3 number system, the best I have is not numbering the projects but nevertheless creating a “project folder” so I have them handy. I then number each matter consecutively as they come to me. So for example, I could have a 109.22.01 in the first project if it’s the 9th matter referred by that client, but it’s for the first project.
Tagging per project would work as you suggest, but I’m just not very good at tagging, so I doubt I’ll keep it up. Plus, tags don’t export as well within platforms.
I think I prefer numbering the projects because with this setup, I can identify the client (and thus, no duplicates). However, I will have to open the file to see in which folder it’s supposed to go. And, I don’t know if I’ll like seeing numbers that aren’t consecutive in each folder.
This is another screenshot showing my proposed 4 digit numbering system. I would only use it for clients like this one (of which I don’t have that many). The 4 digits does make it large. However, I like that they stay consecutive within each project folder.
