Invoicing software that understands how your sector invoices
A building site does not invoice like a clinic, and a bar does not carry the same VAT as a training academy. Each page tells you what really changes: the rates, the forms and the traps particular to each activity.
Sectors
And if yours is not there, write to us: Cairos works just the same, we simply have not written its page yet.
Car repair workshops
A compulsory prior quote, invoices broken down between labour and parts, and insurers that pay at their own pace.
Hairdressers and beauty salons
Lots of small till receipts, passes paid for in advance, product sales and chairs rented out to self-employed stylists.
Hospitality and restaurants
Till receipts by the handful, two VAT rates on the same order and suppliers who bring a delivery note every day.
Construction and renovation
Reverse charge, stage payment certificates, retention money and the 10% on renovations.
Professional services
A 15% withholding, form 130, suplidos and clients who pay at sixty days.
Retail and shops
Recargo de equivalencia, till receipts, stock that comes off on its own and suppliers with a lot of product lines.
E-commerce
Distance sales, the €10,000 threshold, VAT of the customer's country and returns.
Law firms
Provisiones de fondos, suplidos that are not income, withholding on every fee note and case files that last years.
Installers and trades
Quotes accepted over WhatsApp, reverse charge with contractors and materials bought per job.
Clinics and practices
VAT-exempt healthcare, beauty treatments that are not, prorrata and health data with reinforced protection.
Training academies and courses
VAT-exempt teaching, monthly fees that collect themselves, enrolments and materials that do carry VAT.
Agencies and studios
Monthly retainers, clients outside Spain, freelances invoicing with withholding and hours that have to be allocated.
Painters and decorators
The trade that does reach the 10% on housing, because the paint almost never weighs 40% of the invoice.
Carpentry and cabinetmaking
The board weighs more than 40% of the invoice, and that decides the VAT rate and even whether you are selling a piece of furniture or supplying a service.
Architecture practices
Your fee note goes at 21% even if the building work goes at 10%, and the VAT is decided by where the building is, not where the client is.
Nutritionists and dietitians
The clinical consultation is exempt from VAT and sports advice is not. Living with both is the norm, and it brings prorrata.
Psychologists and psychotherapists
The exemption does not come from being a qualified psychologist: it comes from the healthcare registration. Coaching and expert reports go at 21%.
Veterinary practices
You are health professionals, but you are not exempt: the exemption is for care given to people. A dispensary with batches and three VAT rates on the same till receipt.
Opticians and optometry
Exempt, 10% and 21% at the same counter. And a prorrata that depends on whether you charge for the eye test or give it away.
Gyms and sports centres
Your membership fee carries VAT and the club next door's does not: the sports exemption is for bodies of a social character, not for companies.
Translators and interpreters
Literary translation can be VAT-exempt and technical translation cannot. And half your clients invoice from outside Spain.
Photographers and studios
The copyright exemption is almost never yours: it only reaches the press contributor. Bookings with VAT and rights that travel abroad.
Print shops and signage
Printing a book goes at 4% and a leaflet at 21%. And a publication loaded with advertising loses the super-reduced rate.
Florists
Flowers at 10%, event decoration at 21%, stock that dies in three days and buying at Dutch auctions.
Bakeries and bakehouses
Ordinary bread at 4%, pastries at 10% and coffee at the bar at 10% again. And for kneading dough, outside the recargo de equivalencia.
Freight transport
Goods at 21% and passengers at 10%. Exempt what is tied to an export, and no VAT on intra-Community work.
Cleaning companies
Cleaning inside a building goes at 21% and cleaning the street at 10%. Monthly contracts, a lot of staff and tenders.
What does not change
Underneath all those particularities there are the same four things, and they are what Cairos does in any activity.
Invoicing properly
With VeriFactu, your series and your sequential numbering, from day one and on every plan.
Knowing who owes you
Due dates, reminders and a cash flow forecast, so you do not discover the hole when it is already there.
Closing the quarter
The forms come out calculated from what you have entered, with the detail on every box.
Keeping everything on file
Invoices, expenses and attachments, searchable for as many years as the law requires.
The four things that change from one sector to another
Beneath the noise, almost every difference between sectors fits into these four. Knowing which one your business is in explains why a generic program leaves you halfway.
| What changes | Where it shows | The sectors where it weighs most |
|---|---|---|
| Whether the invoice carries VAT or not | Reverse charge on building work, healthcare and teaching exemptions, intra-Community transactions | Construction, fitters, clinics, academies, agencies |
| Which rate applies | The 10% on the premises against the 21% on the bottle to take away, the 4% on basic foodstuffs, the 10% on renovations with its limit on materials | Hospitality, retail, construction |
| How you get paid | Till receipt versus invoice, monthly fee by direct debit, retainer, works certificate, prepaid pass | Academies, hairdressers, offices, building sites |
| What else has to be kept track of | Stock and expiry dates, hours per project, the compulsory quote up front, licences and insurance | Retail, e-commerce, garages, agencies, clubs |
A program that only solves the first row is good for invoicing. One that solves all four is good for running the business.
And if your sector is not on the list
Cairos works the same way: the sector pages are not different versions of the program, they are the same tool explained in the vocabulary of each trade. If you cannot find yours, look at the one that most resembles it in how it charges and what it has to keep track of.
- If you charge by the hour or by assignment and are withheld on the invoice, start with professional services.
- If you quote before working and buy materials per job, go to fitters.
- If you sell products to end consumers, go to retail, above all because of the recargo de equivalencia.
- If you collect recurring fees from a lot of people, go to academies, even if you do not teach.
- And if what you run is non-profit, the sector matters less than the legal form: have a look at the legal forms.
What never changes
Whatever the trade: everybody has to issue proper invoices, know who owes them money, close the quarter and keep the paperwork for years. That is 80% of the program and it is identical for a bar and for a firm of architects.
The remaining 20% is what these pages cover, and it is exactly the part that decides whether the program works for you or leaves you running half the administration elsewhere.
Start with the free plan
No card and no expiry date. If you outgrow it, you can always move up.