The Green Invoice and What Israeli Law Requires

"Green invoice" (חשבונית ירוקה) came out of the move from paper to email, and it carries no legal standing. There is no such document type, no such definition in the law, and no status to apply for. What exists is a tax invoice, a transaction invoice or a receipt, issued from software and emailed instead of printed.

The phrase is also the trade name of one of the invoicing products sold in Israel, so searching it returns a mix of brand results and people trying to work out what the rules actually require. This page answers the second. Anyone here for the brand itself will find the pricing and plans in the Morning and Slate comparison.

What the law calls it

The formal term is a computerized document, and it appears in the bookkeeping regulations. The definition says nothing about colour or the environment. It turns on one technical question: whether the document was created and stored in a computerized system rather than written in a paper book.

Once a document is computerized, four requirements follow, none of which has anything to do with how it was delivered.

Each of these is covered in the digital signature guide, the retention rules and the Open Format guide.

Two things to do before the first emailed invoice

This is where nearly everyone slips, because both conditions read like formalities and aren't.

Notify the assessing officer. A business that starts sending computerized documents must notify its assessing officer by registered mail before the first computerized document goes out. It's a one-off notice, not an application you wait on.

Get the customer's consent. A computerized document may only be sent to someone who has consented, in writing or by computerized means, before they receive their first computerized document from you. Consent holds until the customer withdraws it, and the consent or its withdrawal is kept as an integral part of the accounting system, like any other record.

In practice consent is collected when the customer is set up: a checkbox on the order form, a line in the engagement agreement, or an email reply that gets filed. What matters is being able to produce it, not remembering that it was given.

What it doesn't change

The question that comes up most is whether an emailed invoice is worth less than the same invoice on paper. It isn't. The delivery channel changes nothing about the document's standing, and nothing about the customer's right to deduct input VAT.

What counts is the content and the integrity of the document: the required fields, the numbering sequence, the signature, and on a tax invoice above the threshold an allocation number. A printed invoice missing a required field fails exactly as a digital one missing the same field does.

Printed copies and the customer who wants paper

A customer who prefers paper gets a printout of the same document, and that printout is a copy. Marking the difference between an original and a copy is part of the document being correct, and it's what stops the same expense being counted twice in the customer's books.

A business still working from a paper book isn't breaking any rule, but two things block it today. The first is the allocation number, which cannot be requested from paper, so an invoice above the threshold simply can't be issued there. The second is the Open Format file the accountant asks for, which stubs don't produce.

The word "green" and the real saving

The environmental angle is real, but it isn't why businesses switch. What changes is time: one action issues, signs, sends and books the document, instead of three separate ones ending in a binder. For a business issuing dozens of documents a month that's the difference between an hour and a week at period close, and it's also what produces the VAT report without collecting everything again.

Anyone still issuing from an Excel file or a Word template holds the worst of both: none of paper's simplicity and none of a system's compliance.

How this works in Slate

Every document Slate issues is a computerized document in full: signed at the moment of issue, stored as a permanent snapshot, and numbered from a sequence held on the server. Emailing it is part of issuing it rather than a separate step, and the customer's consent is stored on their record. You can issue your first document for free and see what lands in the customer's inbox before signing up.

This is general information, not tax advice. For a specific case, consult an accountant or tax adviser.

Common questions

What is a green invoice?

Everyday Hebrew for an invoice issued from software and emailed instead of printed and handed over. It isn't a document type and it isn't a legal term. The document is still a tax invoice, a transaction invoice or a receipt, whichever it actually is.

What does the law call a digital invoice?

A computerized document. That's the term used in the bookkeeping regulations, and it brings four requirements with it: a digital signature, running numbering, seven-year retention, and the ability to export an Open Format file.

Is emailing an invoice allowed?

Yes, subject to two things done in advance. You notify your assessing officer by registered mail before sending your first computerized document, and you obtain the customer's consent, written or computerized, before they receive their first computerized document from you.

Can a customer withdraw consent to receive documents by email?

Yes. Consent stands until withdrawn, and the consent or its withdrawal has to be kept as an integral part of the accounting system.

Is an emailed invoice worth less than a printed one?

No. The delivery channel doesn't change the document's standing. What counts is the required fields, the digital signature and the numbering sequence, plus an allocation number on a tax invoice above the threshold.

Do I also have to send a printed copy?

No, once the computerized document conditions are met. A customer who asks for paper gets a printout marked as a copy, so it can't be counted twice in their books.

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