Receipt, Till Receipt, Invoice and Proof of Payment: What's the Difference?
Key points
- An invoice says "please pay"; a receipt says "payment received"
- A till receipt often works in place of a receipt
- What is written matters more than the title
With so many similarly named documents, it is easy to wonder which one to issue. Here are the differences in role.
What each one does
- Invoice: a request to pay. You issue it before receiving the money.
- Receipt: proof that "I did receive the money". You issue it after receiving it.
- Till receipt: a simple record a shop gives at payment. If it shows the amount, date and shop name, it is often used in place of a receipt.
- Proof of payment: a document showing that payment was received when a receipt cannot be issued, such as with a bank transfer.
Which one should I issue?
- Before being paid: issue an invoice.
- Received cash or an on-the-spot payment: issue a receipt.
- Received by bank transfer: in many cases the transfer record is enough. If the other person asks, issue a receipt or proof of payment.
Content over title
Whether the title says 領収書 or 領収証, what matters is:
- When, who, from whom, and how much was received
- What the payment was for
Between individuals and clubs too
Hand-to-hand sales, club fees and monthly lessons can all lead to a request for a receipt. In that case, Create a Receipt PDF makes it easy.
Issue a receipt only for money you actually received.
Turn invoices into PDF too
When you make an invoice or another document in Word or on your phone, saving it as PDF keeps the layout from breaking on the other person's device. A photo of a paper document can be turned into a PDF with Photos to PDF.
Use "Create a Receipt PDF" (free)Tools that go well with this
- Compress PDF: Shrink a PDF to fit under a size you choose, for upload limits.
- Merge PDFs: Combine several PDF files into one, in the order you choose.
- Add Page Numbers to PDF: Add page numbers to a PDF, choosing position and style.