Frequently asked questions
The questions Israeli freelancers ask about invoicing, VAT and the Tax Authority, each with an answer, a worked example and a link to the guide that goes deeper. One question no amount of text answers: what a document out of Slate actually looks like. There is a sample of every type.
Invoices and receipts
What is the difference between an invoice and a receipt?
An invoice records a sale: what you sold, to whom and for how much. A receipt records money that actually came in. The two answer different questions, so sometimes one job produces both.
Example: a graphic designer who is an osek murshe finishes a logo on 3 March. She issues a tax invoice for ₪2,000 plus ₪360 VAT. The client pays ₪2,360 on 20 April, and on that day she issues a receipt for that amount. Had the client paid on the same day, one document would have been enough: a tax invoice receipt.
An osek patur never issues a tax invoice. For them the receipt is the document that records the payment, and it is what the customer gets.
When do you issue a receipt and when a tax invoice receipt?
A tax invoice receipt fits when the work and the payment happen at the same moment. One document records both the sale and the money. When there is a gap in time, you issue two documents: a tax invoice when the deal closes, and a receipt on the day the money arrives.
Example: a private tutor who is an osek murshe gets ₪590 by bank transfer at the end of a lesson. She issues one tax invoice receipt. Another student pays once a month for four lessons, so for him she issues a tax invoice at the end of the month and a receipt when the payment lands.
A post-dated cheque counts as a late payment. You issue the tax invoice now and the receipt on the day the cheque clears.
An osek patur does not issue tax invoice receipts. When money comes in, they issue a receipt.
What is the difference between a transaction invoice and a payment request?
Both documents ask the customer for money, and neither is a tax invoice. There is no VAT on them that the customer can deduct, and they do not go into the VAT report.
A transaction invoice records work that was agreed: what you did and for how much. A payment request asks for money that does not have to be tied to new work, for example an advance before you start, or a balance that is still open.
Example: a photographer who is an osek patur books a wedding for ₪6,000. Two months before the event he sends a payment request for a ₪1,500 advance. After the wedding he sends a transaction invoice for the work. For every payment that comes in, the advance and the balance, he issues a receipt.
For the Tax Authority, the document that records the income is the receipt. A business customer who asks an osek patur for the invoice should get the receipt, because an osek patur has no tax invoice to give.
I issued a receipt with a mistake. How do I cancel it and issue a new one?
A document that was issued cannot be deleted or edited. The law requires that. The fix is a second document that reverses the first, and the original stays on record.
For a receipt: open it and click "Credit Receipt". A new receipt opens for the same amount with a minus sign, with the note "Credit for receipt" and the original number. Issue it, then issue a new, correct receipt.
Example: a therapist issued receipt 12 for ₪300 with the wrong payment date. She credits it, which creates receipt 13 for minus ₪300. Then she issues receipt 14 with the right date. The sequence stays whole, and anyone checking sees exactly what happened.
For a tax invoice or a tax invoice receipt, click "Create credit", and a credit tax invoice is created for the full amount. A quote, a transaction invoice and a payment request are not tax documents, and you mark them as cancelled in the document list.
I issued two receipts for the same payment. What now?
Credit one of them and keep the other. You cannot delete a receipt or reuse its number, and you do not need to: the number of a reversed document is a normal part of the sequence.
Example: a customer paid ₪450, and by mistake you issued receipts 6 and 7 for the same payment. Open receipt 6, click "Credit Receipt" and issue. Receipt 8 is created for minus ₪450 and cancels receipt 6. Your reports show one payment of ₪450, and receipt 7 is the one the customer keeps.
If you already sent the customer both receipts, tell them which one stands.
Each receipt can be credited once, and a credit receipt cannot itself be credited. So it is worth checking the amount and the date before you click issue.
Can I issue a receipt with a past date?
Yes, with one limit: the date cannot be earlier than the last document you issued of the same type. That keeps the sequence in time order, which is what the law expects. A future date is not allowed.
Example: your last receipt was issued on 10 September, and you remember that a customer paid you on 28 August. The new receipt can be dated any day from 10 September on, but not 28 August.
There is a way around this part. Every receipt has two dates: the document date, and the payment date on the payment line. Record the payment date as 28 August and give the receipt today's date. The Tax Authority sees when the money actually came in.
A tax invoice that needs an allocation number has a Tax Authority limit too: an invoice dated too far back is rejected when the number is requested.
Is the document sent to the customer automatically? How do I send one that was already issued?
No, a document is not sent automatically. Right after you issue it, a window opens with several options: "Email to customer", "Send to customer on WhatsApp", "Copy document link" and "Download document". That is the moment to send it.
For sending to work, the customer card needs an email address, and for WhatsApp an Israeli mobile number. Fill them in before you issue, and sending takes one click.
Example: a piano teacher issues a ₪250 receipt after a lesson and clicks "Send to customer on WhatsApp". The parent gets a message with a link to the receipt.
If the window was closed before you sent it, download the document as a PDF from the document card and send it from your own email or WhatsApp. The customer gets the same document either way.
How do I issue a receipt from a transaction invoice without typing everything again?
Open the document that was already issued, and its card shows the follow-up buttons. The new document opens with the lines, the customer and the amounts, and is linked to the document it came from.
An osek patur can create a receipt from a quote, an order, a delivery note, a transaction invoice or a payment request. From a quote, an order or a delivery note they can also create a transaction invoice.
An osek murshe can create a tax invoice or a tax invoice receipt from a transaction invoice.
Example: a kindergarten teacher who is an osek patur sends a ₪1,800 transaction invoice at the start of the month. When the parents pay, she opens the transaction invoice and creates a receipt from it. The receipt is ready; she only checks the payment date and method.
To create a document of the same type, for example the same receipt for a regular customer every month, use "Duplicate" in the document list.
What is a credit tax invoice and when do you issue one?
A credit tax invoice cancels a tax invoice that was already issued, in full or in part. It refers to the original invoice number and reduces the VAT you pay in the period when it is issued.
You issue one when a deal is cancelled, when goods come back, when the amount or the customer details were wrong, and when a debt is recognised as bad. The original invoice always stays where it is.
Example: a camera store issued a tax invoice in January for ₪10,000 plus ₪1,800 VAT. In February the customer returned a lens worth ₪2,000. In February the store issues a credit invoice for ₪2,000 plus ₪360 VAT. The January report does not change, and the credit reduces February's VAT.
In Slate, click "Create credit" on the invoice card for a full credit. For a partial credit, create a new credit tax invoice and pick the source document. An osek patur does not issue credit invoices, because they have no tax invoices.
My prices include VAT. How does the invoice take the VAT out?
On an invoice line the price is always entered before VAT, and VAT is added on top. So a final price of ₪350 has to be entered as ₪296.61, and the invoice then adds ₪53.39 VAT and reaches ₪350.
The easy way is to save the service as an item in your catalogue. The item card has a "Price incl. VAT" field: type 350, and Slate works out the price before VAT. Make sure "Subject to VAT" is ticked, and every line you add from the item comes out right.
Example: a beautician who charges ₪350 for a treatment saves a "Facial" item with a price incl. VAT of 350. On every tax invoice receipt she picks the item, and the amount due is exactly ₪350.
If the VAT at the bottom of the document comes out as 0, Slate shows a warning before you issue. That usually means the VAT box on the line is not ticked.
How do I invoice a customer abroad?
Issue it as usual, in English and in a foreign currency if you want. Slate has 36 currencies, and the exchange rate is suggested from the Bank of Israel representative rate. The shekel amount at that rate is what goes into your Tax Authority reports.
A service to a non-resident can be zero-rated for VAT under section 30 of the VAT Law. The customer has to be based outside Israel with no activity here, and the service cannot actually be given to an Israeli resident too. When those conditions hold, untick VAT on the lines.
Example: a developer who builds a website for a company in Germany invoices €3,000 with no VAT. If the same company asks for a site for its Tel Aviv branch, VAT is back at 18%.
In the customer address, enter the country and city as free text. A foreign VAT number has no place in the tax ID field, which only accepts an Israeli number, so add it in the document notes. An osek patur invoices a foreign customer with a transaction invoice and a receipt as usual.
How long do I have to keep receipts and invoices?
Seven years, counted from the end of the tax year the document belongs to, not from the day it was issued. So in practice it is almost always more than seven years.
Example: a receipt from February 2026 belongs to tax year 2026. The year ends on 31 December 2026, and seven years run from there, to the end of 2033. That is almost eight years from the day the receipt was issued.
The duty covers the documents you issued and the invoices you got from suppliers, and it continues after you close the business. You can keep everything digitally, as long as the files are readable and available at any moment. A backup you have never opened is not a backup.
If you move from one system to another, export all your documents from the old one, including an open format file, before you stop paying for it.
What is a "green invoice"?
A green invoice is a nickname. It is what people call an invoice that is produced by software and sent by email instead of printed. The law has no document by that name, and what goes out by email is still a tax invoice, a transaction invoice or a receipt, depending on what was issued.
The phrase is also the brand name of one of the Israeli invoicing apps, so searching for it brings up the brand too. Example: a designer who issues a tax invoice from software and emails it has sent a "green invoice" in everyday terms, and in legal terms a computerised document of the tax invoice type.
Sending computerised documents takes two things. Notice to the assessing officer before the first computerised document goes out, and the customer's consent to receive such documents, in writing or in the system. The consent stands until the customer withdraws it.
A document sent by email is worth exactly the same as a printed one. What makes it valid is the required details, the digital signature and the unbroken numbering.
How do I write a quote?
A quote should answer what the customer will ask later: what exactly is included, what it costs, until when the price holds, and whether the amount includes VAT. A quote the customer accepted becomes the agreement, so anything not written in it will not bind them.
Example: a renovator writes a quote for a bathroom. He lists demolition, waterproofing, tiling and fixtures, each line with a price, and writes ₪18,000 before VAT. He adds that materials follow the customer's choice from a given price list, and that the quote is valid for 30 days. Without an expiry date the customer can come back six months later and ask for the same price.
The most common fight over an invoice is VAT. The customer read a final price, and the business meant a price before VAT. Write it down explicitly.
A quote is not a tax document. An osek patur whose customer accepted a quote can create a transaction invoice or a receipt from it in Slate with one click, without typing the lines again.
Allocation numbers
From what amount do you need an allocation number in 2026?
From June 2026, every tax invoice of ₪5,000 or more before VAT. The amount is checked on each invoice separately, and exactly ₪5,000 already needs a number.
Example: an invoice for ₪4,999 plus VAT does not need a number. An invoice for ₪5,000 plus ₪900 VAT does.
The allocation number exists for the customer who deducts VAT. Without it they may not deduct the VAT on the invoice, so business customers check it before they pay.
The threshold has come down step by step in recent years and may keep falling under the legislation. Slate requests the number from the Tax Authority by itself when you issue an invoice above the threshold, and prints it on the invoice. Once you connect to the Tax Authority in the settings, there is nothing else to do.
The Tax Authority rejects my allocation number request. Why?
When the request fails, the invoice is not issued and a "No allocation number" window opens with the reason. Most rejections come down to a few recurring causes.
The connection to the Tax Authority expired. The authorisation lasts three months, after which you click "Reconnect" in the settings. The customer card has no valid tax ID, in which case Slate stops before the request and shows a link to the customer card. The customer's tax ID is the same as your business's, which is almost always a typo. Or the details do not match what the Tax Authority has on record: name, number, date or amount.
Example: a company issues an invoice for ₪14,000 to a business customer and gets a rejection. The customer card turns out to have one wrong digit in the company number. Fix the card and issue again.
If you have to issue right away, you can choose "Issue without a number". The invoice goes out with a note that input VAT may not be deducted for it, and from the document you can try requesting a number again.
Which documents need an allocation number and which do not?
Only two document types, and only above the threshold: the tax invoice and the tax invoice receipt. A tax invoice receipt is a tax invoice in every respect, so the requirement applies to it the same way.
A transaction invoice never needs an allocation number, at any amount, because it carries no VAT the customer deducts. A credit invoice does not need its own number either, because it reverses a deduction rather than creating one. It refers to the original invoice, which keeps the link to that invoice's allocation number.
An osek patur issues no tax invoices and charges no VAT, so the requirement does not touch them at all. If a customer asks them for an allocation number, the customer is mistaken.
Example: an osek patur selling a course for ₪8,000 issues a receipt with no allocation number, and that is correct. An osek murshe selling the same course issues a tax invoice receipt, and that one does need a number.
I requested an allocation number on the Tax Authority site. Where do I enter it?
In Slate you do not type in an allocation number. Once you connect to the Tax Authority, in the settings under "Israel Invoice", Slate requests the number by itself when you issue and prints it on the invoice.
A number you requested on the Tax Authority site belongs to the invoice you described there, with the details you typed. An invoice in Slate gets its own number through its own request, so the number matches exactly the document that went out.
Example: an osek murshe requested a number on the Tax Authority site for a ₪7,000 invoice, then issued the invoice in Slate. When she issued it, Slate requested a new number, and that is the one printed on the invoice and given to the customer.
If you see two numbers on the Tax Authority site for the same deal, check with your accountant how to report the one the customer never received. To keep it from happening again, request numbers only through Slate.
A private customer with no ID number, and an invoice above the threshold. What do I do?
An allocation number exists for a customer who deducts VAT, and a private customer does not deduct VAT. So an invoice to a private person can go out without a number, even above ₪5,000.
Requesting a number takes the customer's tax ID or ID number. When the field is empty and the invoice is above the threshold, Slate stops and shows a warning with a link to the customer card. You can carry on in two ways: add the ID number, or choose "Issue without a number".
Example: a carpenter issues a ₪9,000 tax invoice receipt to a family for a built-in wardrobe. The family does not deduct VAT, and he carries on without an allocation number. If the customer is a doctor who ordered the wardrobe for a clinic, the doctor will deduct the VAT, so it is worth adding their business number and requesting one.
A sale to a "Walk-in customer" in Slate is issued without an allocation number automatically.
Opening and closing a business
How long does it take to open an osek patur, and what do I need?
With your documents ready, you can finish in one working day. You need your ID card, bank account details and a description of what the business does. There is no opening fee.
Opening is three separate registrations: with VAT, with income tax and with Bituach Leumi (National Insurance). The VAT registration can be done online on the Tax Authority site, and Bituach Leumi takes a few more minutes.
Example: a developer who starts freelancing on 1 November opens her file that week. She gets the full annual osek patur turnover ceiling, ₪122,833 in 2026, even with only two months left in the year.
From the first sale you have to issue a document for every payment, so it is worth opening the file before you get paid. An accountant is not required for the opening itself, but they help check that the status fits your profession.
What is the difference between an osek patur and an osek murshe?
An osek patur does not charge customers VAT and does not get back the VAT on their own expenses. An osek murshe charges VAT, deducts the VAT on expenses and files a VAT report every month or two.
The exemption only applies up to a turnover ceiling, ₪122,833 in 2026. Turnover is total income before expenses, not profit. Anyone who crosses the ceiling has to become an osek murshe from that point, not at the start of the next year.
Example: a fitness trainer with private clients and ₪90,000 turnover gains from the exemption, because their prices stay free of VAT. A marketing consultant with the same turnover whose clients are all companies can choose to be an osek murshe: the companies deduct the VAT anyway, and she gets back the VAT on the computer and software she buys.
Lawyers, accountants, doctors, architects and engineers have to be an osek murshe at any turnover.
How long does it take to open an osek murshe and what does it cost?
Usually a few days. The VAT registration sets the pace, and income tax and Bituach Leumi go faster. There is no opening fee.
You file form 821 on the Tax Authority site, at the regional VAT office or through an accountant. At the end you get an osek murshe certificate, which has to hang somewhere visible at the business.
The real costs come after the opening: an accountant or tax adviser, software for issuing documents, and Bituach Leumi contributions that start right away.
Example: an architect opening an office on the 10th of the month cannot issue a tax invoice before the registration is done. An invoice issued earlier does not let the customer deduct the VAT. If he already took an advance in those days, it is better to wait with the document until the number is approved.
How do I close a business file?
Notify VAT within 15 days of the day the activity stopped, and notify income tax and Bituach Leumi at the same time. A file that stays open keeps generating reports and payments even with no income, and that is a common source of fines.
Equipment and stock you keep are treated as if you sold them to yourself. An osek murshe reports them and pays VAT on them.
Example: a graphic designer who is an osek murshe closes the business in March and keeps the computer for personal use. He reports the computer's value to VAT on that day. The following April he files a last annual return for the three months he worked.
Documents are kept for seven years from the end of the tax year, after closing too. Before you cancel your document software subscription, download everything from it.
Annual filing
When is the osek patur declaration due, and when the annual return?
These are two different filings to two places, with two deadlines. The osek patur declaration goes to VAT by 31 January. The annual return, form 1301, goes to income tax, and the statutory date is the end of April.
Example: for 2026, an osek patur files the declaration by 31 January 2027 and the annual return by the end of April 2027. The Tax Authority announces an extension for the annual return almost every year, so check that year's date.
The declaration is simple: one number, total income for the year, with no calculation and no payment. The annual return works out the actual tax and offsets the advances you already paid.
An osek murshe does not file such a declaration, because they report to VAT every month or two. The annual return they file like everyone else.
Do I have to file in a year with no income?
Yes, as long as the file is open. That goes for the osek patur declaration to VAT and for the annual return to income tax. In an empty year you file a zero return.
Example: a yoga teacher opened an osek patur in 2025 and did not work at all in 2026. By 31 January 2027 she declares ₪0 turnover to VAT, and in the spring she files a zero annual return. If she does not plan to go back to work, the way to stop filing is to close the file.
Not filing is recorded as a defect on the file, even with no income. A defect like that holds up certificates business customers ask for, such as the bookkeeping certificate.
Bituach Leumi also keeps charging contributions as long as you are registered as self-employed, so update them when the activity stops.
VAT
What is the VAT rate today, and how do I work out a price without VAT?
VAT in Israel is 18%, since January 2025. To add VAT to a price, multiply by 1.18. To take VAT out of a price that already includes it, divide by 1.18.
Example: a customer paid ₪1,180 including VAT. Divide by 1.18 and you get ₪1,000, and the VAT is ₪180. A common mistake is taking 18% off ₪1,180, which gives ₪967.60 and works out too much VAT.
Another example: a price of ₪350 including VAT splits into ₪296.61 plus ₪53.39 VAT.
An osek patur does not charge VAT, so the price they quote is the full amount they get. When they become an osek murshe, a ₪1,000 price to a private customer becomes ₪1,180, or they absorb the VAT and keep ₪847.46.
When do you get a VAT refund?
A refund comes up when the VAT you paid on expenses in a period is higher than the VAT you charged customers. The difference is paid back to the business bank account after you file the report.
Example: an interior designer who is an osek murshe bought a computer and software in January for ₪11,800, of which ₪1,800 is VAT. That month she charged customers ₪900 VAT. Her January report gives her a ₪900 refund.
Small refunds usually arrive within days. A large refund, or one that is unusual for the business's history, goes through a check, and the Tax Authority asks for the invoices behind it. The law sets a payment deadline, and late payment carries linkage and interest.
An osek patur does not get VAT refunds. They charge no VAT, and the VAT they paid suppliers is part of their cost.
What is input VAT?
It is the VAT you paid on business expenses. An osek murshe offsets it against the VAT they charged customers, and pays only the difference.
Example: a freelance developer charged customers ₪3,600 VAT in a month. That month he bought a monitor for ₪1,180, of which ₪180 is VAT. He pays VAT ₪3,420, not ₪3,600.
To deduct it you need a tax invoice in the business's name with its business number. An invoice in a private name does not allow a deduction, even when the expense was clearly for the business. Above the threshold, the invoice also needs an allocation number.
You have a six-month window from the invoice date to deduct it. For a private car and some other expenses you deduct only part of the VAT. An osek patur does not deduct input VAT at all.
Income tax
What are income tax advances and how is the rate set?
Advances are an ongoing payment toward the year's tax, so you do not have to pay it all at once after the annual return. They are worked out as a percentage of income, not profit, and paid by the 15th of the month after the period.
The assessing officer sets the rate, usually from your last return: the tax you paid divided by the income that year. Someone who paid ₪38,000 tax on ₪480,000 income will get a rate of about 8%.
Example: a consultant with a 7% rate who brought in ₪30,000 in a month pays a ₪2,100 advance. In a month with no income he reports zero.
If your income dropped, you can ask the assessing officer to lower the rate. Any overpayment only comes back after the annual return, so it is worth asking early.
Is operating leasing tax deductible? How is it different from financial leasing?
Yes, under the same rules as a private car you own. For a car in mixed use, 45% of the expenses are recognised for income tax: the lease payments, fuel, insurance, servicing and parking.
Example: a lease payment of ₪2,500 a month plus ₪900 fuel is ₪3,400. 45% of that, ₪1,530, is recognised as an expense. For VAT, an osek murshe deducts two thirds of the VAT when the car is used mainly for business, and a quarter when it is not.
The difference between operating and financial leasing is who holds the car. In operating leasing the leasing company owns it and you rent it. In financial leasing you buy the car with a loan, so you get depreciation on the car and financing costs instead of a rental expense.
A car used only by the business and left there at the end of the day gets full recognition, but that is rare and the Tax Authority checks it closely.
What is withholding tax and how do I get a certificate?
A business customer paying you for a service withholds part of the payment and sends it straight to the Tax Authority, on account of your tax. Without a valid certificate, the withholding is 30%.
Example: a translator invoices a law firm ₪5,000. Without a certificate she gets only ₪3,500, and ₪1,500 goes to the Tax Authority. With a zero-withholding certificate she gets the full amount. The withheld money is not lost: it is credited to her in the annual return.
A business that files on time and has no debts gets the certificate for the next year automatically. You download it from the Tax Authority certificates system by file number. If the rate set is too high, you ask to lower it on form 2542.
An osek patur needs the certificate too, because it is an income tax matter, not a VAT one.
National insurance
How much Bituach Leumi does a self-employed person pay?
The payment is worked out on income from the business after expenses, not on turnover. In 2026 there are two bands. Up to ₪7,703 a month you pay 7.7% (National Insurance and health tax together). Above that and up to ₪51,910 a month you pay 18%.
Example: a designer with a ₪10,000 monthly profit pays 7.7% on ₪7,703, about ₪593, plus 18% on ₪2,297, about ₪413. That is about ₪1,006 a month in total.
At first you pay advances based on an estimate you give, and after the annual assessment Bituach Leumi settles the account and sends a charge or a credit. You can update the estimate during the year.
52% of the National Insurance contributions (without the health tax) are deductible for income tax. An open debt can affect maternity pay and other benefits.
Working in Slate
How much does it cost? When do I pay?
Issuing documents in Slate is free, with no limit on documents, subject to the terms. That includes invoices, receipts, digital signature, the Israel Invoice connection and allocation numbers, and open format export for your accountant. No credit card is asked for at sign-up.
There is also a paid Pro plan, which adds features such as expense management. It costs ₪10 a month plus VAT, paid once a year. Nothing renews by itself: at the end of the year you decide again.
Example: an osek patur issuing 20 receipts a month pays nothing. An osek murshe who wants her expense receipts in one place too upgrades to Pro and pays ₪141.60 a year including VAT.
You upgrade in the settings, under "Billing" and then "Upgrade to Pro". Documents you issued on the free plan stay exactly as they are.
Can I move my data over from another system?
Yes. In the reports area, under "Import & Export", there are two routes. Customers and items come in from a CSV file, and there is a template file to download. Document history comes in from an open format file, which every Israeli invoicing system can export, or from an Excel file.
Imported documents are kept as historical records for reports and search. They have no PDF in Slate, so keep the original files from the previous system.
Example: a business whose last receipt in the old system was number 80242 imports the history, then sets in document numbering that the next receipt will be 80243. The sequence continues with no gap.
Some systems add a prefix to the numbers in the file, for example 400 before every receipt number. Slate detects this and asks whether to remove the prefix. Quotes and payment requests are not in the open format file, so those you import from an Excel file.
Can I change the number of my first document?
Yes, as long as you have not issued any document of that type. In the settings, under "Document Numbering", set a starting number for each document type and click "Confirm Numbering". Once the first document of that type is issued, the numbering is locked.
The lock comes from the law. The number sequence has to run with no jumps and no repeats, and a number that already went out cannot change.
Example: someone moving from another system where the last receipt was 152 sets the first receipt in Slate to 153. Someone opening a new business can start from 1. The law does not require a particular starting number, and 1 is simply easy to count.
Each document type has its own sequence, so receipt 5 and tax invoice 5 can exist side by side. Quotes and transaction invoices get their own sequences too.
How do I give my accountant what they need?
An accountant usually needs two things: all the documents for the period, and an organised file they can load into their own software. Both come out of Slate with a click, for free.
In the reports area, under "Import & Export", download an open format file. That is the format the Tax Authority set for a business's books, and accountants' software loads it directly. From there you can also download the VAT report for the period and the document list.
Example: an osek murshe who reports every two months downloads the VAT report and the document list for the period at the start of the month, and sends them to the accountant before the 15th. At the end of the year he sends an open format file for the whole year.
Send these files instead of one document at a time. A single file that loads directly saves the accountant hours of typing, and saves you paying for them.
Can I connect card clearing so receipts go out by themselves?
No. Slate currently has no connection to clearing companies and no public API, so a receipt is not created automatically when a payment comes in. Every receipt is issued from inside Slate.
You can make it shorter. Save your services as items, fill in an email or mobile number on the customer card, and create the receipt from the transaction invoice or payment request you sent. That is a few clicks per payment.
Example: a fitness trainer who charges 15 trainees ₪400 a month issues each one a receipt from a "Monthly membership" item at the start of the month, and sends it on WhatsApp straight from the issue window.
Even when customers pay through a clearing company, the duty to issue a receipt stays with the business. The receipt has to come from the system that keeps the books, in its own sequence.
Lawyers: how do I record a deposit received from a client?
A deposit a lawyer holds in trust for a client is not the firm's income, and it does not count toward turnover. You keep it in a separate trust account and record every deposit and withdrawal under the rules that apply to lawyers holding trust money.
Legal fees are ordinary income. A lawyer has to be an osek murshe, so fees get a tax invoice or a tax invoice receipt, with VAT.
Example: a client transfers ₪50,000 as a deposit for a property deal, plus ₪5,000 plus VAT in fees. The firm issues a tax invoice receipt for the fees. The deposit goes into trust and is recorded there. If part of the deposit later pays the fees, the firm issues an invoice for it at that point.
Slate has no special document type for deposits right now. You issue the fees in it as usual, and the trust account handling is best agreed with the firm's accountant.