Dear Mike,

Your request is possible but i only know how to do it the unconventional way. May be there is a better way/function out there. I share with you the principle i used the last time i did it.
1. Create a table and add a field with a default value of today (Date()).
2. This field should preferebly be located in the table where you want the counter to reset to one when a new year has begun.
3. In the before insert event of the bound form (the form that is gathering data which you want to reset to one at beginning of the year), use the dlookup function to get the maximum date value of the field mentioned in 1 above.
4. convert that value in step 3 above into a year like X = Year(MaximumDateValue)
5. Then convert today's date into a year as well. So you have Y = Year(date)
6. In your before insert event still, subtract X from Y. If the difference is not zero (0), then a new year has begun. You can then reset your counter to zero. If not, continue incrementing the counter normally.
7. In your dlookup statement (step 3 above), remember to use the nz function (and set todays date to be returned incase there are no records in the table). So if you give anybody a blank db, it will start counting from 1 automatically.

The pitfall to this is if the user changes his system date...if the date change is within the same year, then there is practically no effect.

Good luck!

MICAH