Creating an invoice, step by step
Issuing an invoice takes a minute, but it rests on decisions made before it: which document this is, what has to appear on it, and what happens to it once it has gone out. The order below is the order it happens in.
- 001
Decide which document this is
An osek murshe issues a tax invoice for the sale and a receipt for the payment. An osek patur issues a transaction invoice and a receipt. The heading is not a matter of wording: it decides how the document is read in both sides' books.
- 002
Fill in the required fields
Business name and dealer number, customer details, date, what was sold, and the amount. For an osek murshe, also the VAT rate and amount on a separate line. A missing required field makes the document defective even when the total is right.
- 003
Check the VAT
VAT is 18% today, shown separately from the amount it applies to. A client abroad may fall under zero-rating, and that depends on the nature of the transaction rather than on the client's address.
- 004
Request an allocation number above the threshold
A tax invoice above ILS 5,000 before VAT requires an allocation number from the Tax Authority. Without it the customer cannot deduct the VAT, which is what turns this field into a commercial issue.
- 005
Issue, and the document closes
At the moment of issue the document is signed digitally and takes a number from that document type's sequence. From there it is never edited or deleted, and a correction is made with a credit note.
- 006
Send it, and keep it for seven years
Emailing it requires the customer's prior consent and notice to your assessing officer before the first computerized document. Retention is seven years, in a form in which the document can still be produced.
When to issue, not only how
For most service providers in Israel the VAT charge arises when payment is received rather than when the work ends, and section 46 of the VAT Law allows 14 days from that date to issue the invoice. On a sale of goods the date is the day of delivery. The detail, including the exceptions, is in the osek murshe invoice guide.
Anyone who wants to ask for payment before that date sends atransaction invoice, which creates no VAT liability and no deduction for the customer.
Why a Word or Excel template is not enough
You can design a file that looks exactly like a tax invoice. What you cannot do in it is lock the numbering, sign it digitally, and prevent editing after issue. Those three are what make a document a document, and they are covered in theExcel invoice guide and thedigital signature guide.
Issuing in Slate
Pick a customer, add lines, issue. The document type follows the business status that was set, the required fields are already in place, VAT is computed at the rate in force, and an allocation number is requested in the background when the invoice is above the threshold. The document is signed and stored as a permanent snapshot, and can be sent from the same screen. The first document is free to issue.