Accounts API: Place and Sync Debt Inventory in Slate

The Accounts API is currently a draft. Shapes, field names, and field sets may change before it is finalized.

An account is the primary entity Slate services against. Each account maps to a single debt account in your portfolio. It carries the consumer’s balance, creditor information, placement details, and legal status. Every other Slate resource (files, signatures, QC reviews) is ultimately associated with an account, either directly or through a matter. Before you can use any other Slate API, you need accounts in the system.

The Two-Identifier System

Slate uses two identifiers for every account, and understanding both are essential for a reliable integration. accountId is a UUID that Slate assigns when an account is first created. It is stable, canonical, and used in all Slate URLs and relationships (for example, GET /v1/accounts/{accountId}). You will not know this value before the account exists. Slate returns it in the create/upsert response. crid is the account number from your own system. You supply this value, and it must be unique within your owner. Use it as your lookup key when you do not yet have a Slate accountId. For example, on your first upsert or when reconciling records.

The Upsert Pattern

POST /v1/accounts is idempotent. Send an account by crid and Slate will create it if it does not exist, or update it if it does. The response always includes the Slate-assigned accountId. A creditorId is required, and it references a creditor you register beforehand via POST /v1/creditors (list them with GET /v1/creditors). A placement’s firmId likewise references a firm you register via POST /v1/firms.

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://api.slate.inc/accounts/v1/accounts" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "crid": "ACCT-00123456",
    "creditorId": "3f9a1b2c-4d5e-6f70-8192-a3b4c5d6e7f8",
    "currentBalance": "4872.50",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "placement": {
      "firmId": "9c8b7a6d-5e4f-3210-9876-543210fedcba",
      "date": "2024-06-01"
    }
  }'

Response:

{
  "accountId": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
  "owner": "acme-collections",
  "crid": "ACCT-00123456",
  "creditorId": "3f9a1b2c-4d5e-6f70-8192-a3b4c5d6e7f8",
  "currentBalance": "4872.50",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "closedOn": null,
  "matterId": null,
  "placement": {
    "firmId": "9c8b7a6d-5e4f-3210-9876-543210fedcba",
    "date": "2024-06-01"
  },
  "createdOn": "2024-06-20T14:30:00Z",
  "lastUpdated": "2024-06-20T14:30:00Z"
}

Use the upsert endpoint as your daily inventory feed. Send your full current account state on each run. Slate handles the diff internally. You do not need to track which accounts are new versus existing. The upsert pattern takes care of that for you.

Targeted Partial Updates

When you need to update a single field on a known account without re-sending the full record, use PATCH /v1/accounts/{accountId}:

curl --request PATCH \
  --url "https://api.slate.inc/accounts/v1/accounts/a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "currentBalance": "3100.00"
  }'

Only the fields you include in the PATCH body will be modified. All other account fields remain unchanged.

Account Lifecycle

Every account has a status field with two possible values:

Status	Meaning
`ACTIVE`	The account is live and being serviced. Default for newly placed accounts.
`CLOSED`	The account is no longer being actively serviced. No further placements or legal actions are expected.

Update status to CLOSED via upsert or PATCH when an account is paid, recalled, or otherwise resolved.

Money Format

All monetary amounts in Slate are expressed as US dollars with two decimal places, sent and returned as decimal strings — for example, "1250.75". Slate does not use cents, integers, or bare JSON numbers. Strings avoid floating-point rounding. Sending "125075" when you mean $1,250.75 will result in an incorrect balance nearly 100 times too large.

Always format currency values as a decimal string: "4872.50", not 4872.50, "487250", or "$4,872.50".

Key Account Fields

Field	Type	Description
`crid`	string	Your internal account number. Required on upsert. Unique per owner.
`creditorId`	uuid	The creditor this account belongs to. References a creditor you register via `POST /v1/creditors`; must be one your owner manages. Required.
`currentBalance`	string	Outstanding balance in US dollars as a decimal string (for example, `"1250.75"`).
`status`	string	`ACTIVE` or `CLOSED`.
`accountNumber`	string	The current client/account number. May change over the life of the account.
`accountNumberHistory`	array	Read-only history of account-number changes, oldest first. Recorded automatically whenever `accountNumber` changes.
`portfolioId`	string	Identifier of the portfolio this account belongs to, when it is part of a purchased portfolio.
`chargeOffDate`	date	The date the account was charged off (ISO 8601 `YYYY-MM-DD`), if applicable.
`closedOn`	date	The date the account was closed; null while `ACTIVE`.
`matterId`	uuid	Read-only UUID of the current active matter for this account.
`metadata`	object	Custom key/value string pairs (Stripe-style) for attributes Slate does not model natively. Up to 50 keys.
`placement.firmId`	uuid	The firm currently handling the account. References a firm you register via `POST /v1/firms`.
`placement.date`	date	ISO 8601 date the account was placed with the firm.
`placement.feeStructure`	string	The fee arrangement for the placement.
`placement.feeRateType`	string	How the fee rate is expressed.
`placement.balance`	string	Balance at time of placement in US dollars, as a decimal string.
`legal.suit.filedDate`	date	Date the lawsuit was filed (ISO 8601 `YYYY-MM-DD`).
`legal.judgment.enteredDate`	date	Date the judgment was entered (ISO 8601 `YYYY-MM-DD`).
`legal.judgment.amount`	string	Judgment amount in US dollars, as a decimal string.
`createdOn`	datetime	Read-only ISO 8601 timestamp of when the account was first created in Slate.
`lastUpdated`	datetime	Read-only ISO 8601 timestamp of the most recent update to this account.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Accounts API: Place and Sync Debt Inventory in Slate

The Two-Identifier System

The Upsert Pattern

Targeted Partial Updates

Account Lifecycle

Money Format

Key Account Fields

​The Two-Identifier System

​The Upsert Pattern

​Targeted Partial Updates

​Account Lifecycle

​Money Format

​Key Account Fields

The Two-Identifier System

The Upsert Pattern

Targeted Partial Updates

Account Lifecycle

Money Format

Key Account Fields