How Fatouraty works
Six steps, starting from one question about your country and ending at a return ready to file. And at every step, a double-entry ledger building itself behind you without your writing a single entry.
The six steps
In the order every new business goes through them, and you do not need to finish one before starting the next.
- 1
Create your workspace and pick your country
The only choice you are asked to make at the start is country and currency. Everything else is configured from that one answer.
- A ready chart of accounts, with standard numbering and classifications
- Local tax rates, and the correct filing cadence for your country
- The government e-invoicing platform, where one is live for you
- A base currency with the right number of decimals — three for the Gulf and Tunisian dinars
- 2
Add your customers and suppliers
Type in one or two by hand, or bulk-import a CSV if you already have the list in a spreadsheet.
- Tax numbers and addresses that print onto every document automatically
- A default currency per contact, and a vendor withholding rate that pre-fills every payment
- A statement of account for any customer or supplier, at any moment
- 3
Issue your first invoice
You pick the customer and the lines; the system calculates tax per line. On finalisation all of it becomes real accounting.
- A sequential invoice number assigned on finalisation, so a deleted draft leaves no gap
- A balanced entry posted automatically: receivables, revenue, tax payable
- Submission to the e-invoicing platform where your country requires it, waiting on its response
- The whole document in Arabic or in English, under your country's own tax-invoice heading and labels
- 4
Record what you spend
Supplier bills and out-of-pocket expenses, with input VAT and receipt attachments where they belong.
- Input VAT captured so it can be deducted on the return
- Attachments stored and tied to the entry they belong to
- Recurring templates for fixed costs like rent and subscriptions
- 5
Import your bank statement
One CSV from your bank, and lines are matched to entries by amount and date. Anything ambiguous is never guessed.
- Automatic matching for what is clear, manual review for what is not
- Whatever does not match stays visible instead of quietly disappearing
- The gap between your bank balance and your book balance, visible at all times
- 6
Read your reports and file
Every report is derived live from the same posted entries, so there is no second version of the truth waiting to be refreshed.
- P&L, balance sheet, trial balance, cash flow, and receivable ageing
- A VAT return with its buckets separated: standard-rated, zero-rated, exempt
- A period lock that blocks any posting inside it once you have filed
- Export any report to CSV to analyse it outside the system
You write an invoice; the system writes an entry
There is no "simple" ledger and separate "accountant" ledger in Fatouraty. There is one double-entry ledger, and every document you issue produces a balanced entry in it. The difference between you and your accountant is the screen you each look at, not the data underneath.
- An entry that does not balance is refused before it is accepted, not after
- A posted entry is never edited or deleted; corrections are reversals referencing the original
- Every amount is an integer in minor units, so the two sides cannot drift apart on rounding
- Every change is written to an audit log holding the actor and the value before and after
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts receivable | 5,750 | |
| Sales | 5,000 | |
| VAT payable | 750 |
What you never have to do
The clearest way to describe what an accounting system does is to name the jobs that used to fill your day and are simply gone.
Write a journal entry by hand for an ordinary invoice
The entry is derived from the document itself — manual journals exist for the cases that genuinely need them.
Keep a separate VAT spreadsheet
Tax is computed per line from the moment of the invoice, and your return is built straight off it.
Re-key your bank statement
CSV import and automatic matching, with anything unmatched left visible.
Maintain a second copy of your numbers for reporting
Every report is computed from the same entries at the moment you open it.
Choose a tier or pay per user
One plan with unlimited users and invoices, or own it outright with a one-time payment.
Wonder who changed a number, and when
Every change is written to an audit log recording the actor and the value before and after.
Frequently asked questions
How long does setup take?
Minutes. You pick a country and a currency, and the chart of accounts, tax rates and filing cadence arrive configured — you can issue your first invoice before adding anything else.
Do I need an accounting background to use it?
No. You think in the language of the business — sold, bought, collected, paid — and the system handles the balanced entries behind you. The accountant who opens the books after you finds a complete double-entry ledger exactly as they expect.
Can I move my books over from an existing system or spreadsheet?
Yes. You pick a start date, enter opening balances at it, and import contacts from a CSV. Everything before that date stays an archive and is not re-entered.
What if my country doesn't have e-invoicing yet?
Everything else works exactly the same, and the e-invoicing features stay inactive until they are required where you are. The country you choose at creation is what decides this.
Is it genuinely Arabic, or translated?
Arabic is the product's default language, and page direction comes from logical layout properties rather than hardcoded rules. Invoices, reports and the interface are all natively bilingual.
What happens to an invoice after it is finalised?
It becomes uneditable. A correction is a credit note referencing it by number, followed by a fresh invoice if one is needed — which is what keeps your books auditable.
Unfamiliar with the vocabulary? The accounting glossary explains each one in both languages.