Free Receipt Generator

Invoice or receipt: which do you need?

An invoice asks for money. A receipt confirms money arrived. They are not interchangeable, and issuing the wrong one causes real problems: a client who receives a receipt for an unpaid job will file it as settled, and a client who receives a second invoice for a job they already paid will assume you have lost track of your own books.

The sequence for most jobs is: raise an invoice when the work is done, then issue a receipt when the payment lands. If a client pays on the spot, in cash or by card, a receipt on its own is usually enough.

What belongs on a receipt

• Your business name, address and contact details
• A unique receipt number, so you can find the transaction again
• The date the payment was actually received, not the date of the work
• Who paid
• What the payment covered, itemised where more than one thing was supplied
• The amount received, and tax shown separately if you are tax registered
• How it was paid: bank transfer, card, cash, and the reference if there is one

The payment method matters more than people expect. Six months later, "paid by bank transfer, ref INV-0042" is what lets you match the receipt to a line on a bank statement. "Paid" on its own does not.

Cash payments

Cash is the case where a receipt does the most work, because there is no bank record to fall back on. If you take cash, issue a numbered receipt every time, keep your copy, and record it in your books the same day. An unreceipted cash payment is indistinguishable from no payment during an audit, and the burden of proof sits with you.

How long to keep records

Retention periods differ by country and apply to receipts as much as invoices: six years in the UK from the end of the accounting period (HMRC), five years in South Africa from the date of the last entry (SARS), and five years in Australia from when the record was prepared or the transaction completed (ATO). Check your own jurisdiction if you are outside these.

This page stores only the receipt currently on screen, in your browser, so you do not lose your work on a refresh. It is not a record-keeping system. Download each PDF and file it somewhere you will still have in five years.

When one at a time stops working

Making receipts by hand is fine for occasional payments. Once payments are regular, the useful thing is not the document but the ledger: which invoices are paid, which are part paid, which are overdue and by how long. Tidybill records payments against invoices, so receipts and outstanding balances both fall out of the same data. Free plan, no card.