Your business
Receipt number
Date paid
Received from
Paid by
What was paid for
Tax rate
Discount
Amount actually received
Leave at zero to mark the whole amount as paid. Enter less for a part payment and the balance appears on the receipt.
Note on the receipt
Receipt preview
Receipt generated with invoicetools.com. This document confirms payment received and is not a request for payment.
What a receipt has to show
A receipt is proof that money arrived. That makes it a different document from an invoice, which is a request for money, and it needs four things an invoice does not.
- The date the payment was received, not the date the work was done or the invoice raised. This is the date that matters for both sides' accounts.
- How it was paid. Card, bank transfer, cash or cheque. It is what lets either party match the receipt to a bank line months later.
- The amount actually received, which is not always the amount invoiced.
- Anything still outstanding. A receipt for a part payment that does not say so reads as settlement in full, and that is an expensive misunderstanding.
Add a receipt number, your business details and what the payment covered, and the document is complete. Everything above is on the receipt this page builds.
Receipt, invoice or proof of payment?
Invoice
Sent before payment. States what is owed, when it is due and how to pay. Creates the debt.
Receipt
Sent after payment. Confirms what arrived, when and by what method. Closes the debt.
Proof of payment
The payer's own evidence: a bank statement or card record. Useful, but it is not a document you issue.
If you need the first of those, the invoice generator writes it, and the quote generator covers the stage before that.
Part payments and deposits
A deposit is the most common reason to issue a receipt, and the most common one to get wrong. Two rules keep it clean.
- State the balance on the receipt itself. Enter the amount received above and the balance appears automatically, with the document marked PART PAID rather than PAID.
- Keep the same reference across all of it. A deposit receipt, a balance receipt and the invoice they relate to should carry numbers anyone can line up in a minute.
How long to keep receipts
In the US the IRS generally expects records to be kept for three years from the filing date, longer in specific circumstances such as unreported income or worthless securities. In the UK it is five years after the January filing deadline for the self-employed, six years for limited companies. Check your own position, and when in doubt keep them longer: storage is cheap and reconstructing a year of receipts is not.
Nothing you type here is stored or uploaded, so save or print the receipt before you close the tab.
Receipt questions, answered
What is the difference between a receipt and an invoice?
An invoice asks for money and creates the debt; a receipt confirms money arrived and closes it. The receipt is the one that needs the date paid and the payment method.
What has to be on a receipt?
Your business name and contact details, a receipt number, the date payment was received, who paid, what it was for, the amount received, the method, and any balance still outstanding.
Do I have to give a receipt?
Rules vary by country and by trade, and a customer paying cash can generally ask for one. Issuing them by default is simpler than deciding case by case, and it settles arguments about whether payment was made.
How do I write a receipt for a deposit?
Show the amount received, mark the document as a part payment, and state the balance still due with the same reference as the invoice. Enter the amount received above and this page does all three.
Can I use a receipt as proof of payment?
It is the seller's confirmation, which is usually what a customer needs. For a payer's own evidence, a bank or card statement carries more weight because it is issued by a third party.
Does a receipt need to show tax?
If you charge tax, show it as its own line with the rate, because your customer may need to reclaim it. Enter a rate above and it appears separately from the subtotal.
How long should I keep copies of receipts?
Three years is the general US expectation and longer in some circumstances; five to six years is typical in the UK. Keeping them longer costs almost nothing and reconstructing them costs a great deal.
Is a handwritten receipt valid?
Generally yes, if it contains the required information. A printed one is easier to read, harder to dispute and quicker to reproduce if it is lost.
Can I number receipts however I like?
Yes, as long as the sequence is consistent and you can find any given one later. Matching the receipt number to the invoice it settles is the easiest scheme to work with.
Is the receipt maker free and private?
Yes. No signup, nothing uploaded, and the receipt is built in your browser and gone when you close the tab, so print or save it before you leave.