diff --git a/rattail/batch/__init__.py b/rattail/batch/__init__.py
index e7d0924e4848bc18cba8ce5eec2c3f2a7d607bae..3a7d6f4a9a8cbc5c69f69e448ea03d2eaec027f2 100644
--- a/rattail/batch/__init__.py
+++ b/rattail/batch/__init__.py
@@ -27,3 +27,4 @@ Batch System
 from __future__ import unicode_literals, absolute_import
 
 from .handlers import BatchHandler, get_batch_handler
+from .util import consume_batch_id
diff --git a/rattail/batch/util.py b/rattail/batch/util.py
index 2fde78a20c575c6db96cf49146d333f179d0aeae..fccbc066e4cec7cc64ff0196e8b332d6d45676c9 100644
--- a/rattail/batch/util.py
+++ b/rattail/batch/util.py
@@ -29,6 +29,14 @@ from __future__ import unicode_literals, absolute_import
 import inspect
 
 
+def consume_batch_id(session):
+    """
+    Consumes and returns the next batch ID from PG sequence.
+    """
+    sql = "select nextval('batch_id_seq')"
+    return session.execute(sql).scalar()
+
+
 def get_batch_models(model):
     """
     Returns a list of batch models available in the given ``model`` module.