Day-to-day business transactions require accurate record keeping. An effective way to ensure you remain on top of record-keeping is using receipt templates. We get receipts for basically any transaction involving goods and services. Vendors and large organizations issue receipts to supplement invoices and maintain official transaction records. This article gets into receipt templates that ensure you claim a spot among the pros of record keeping.
What Is a Receipt?
A receipt is a written or printed legal document that acknowledges proof of payment for purchases. Receipts record the number of goods or services rendered, the price, date, and other transactional information between the payer and payee.
Receipts can take different structures and contain other information depending on the underlying transaction. Sometimes an approved invoice doubles up as a receipt. But you should note they aren’t the same documents, albeit both facilitate transaction acknowledgment.
Note: A receipt is only issued after a transaction has been made. In contrast, an invoice is given before the payment. That is the distinguishing aspect of receipts and invoices.
What Is a Receipt Template?
A receipt template is an easy-to-customize predesigned receipt. Templates contain blank sections that you fill with the payment information to issue to the customer. You can tweak the features add your business’s logo and insignia to create a personalized receipt. The principal merit of receipt templates is that you can create as many receipts as needed with creative designs.
Also, you can save the template to use for future references, such as during tax calculations and exchange of damaged goods. Templates are hassle-free and easy to use.
Essential Elements of a Receipt Template
Receipt templates vary considerably depending on the business or individual preference. A receipt can range from a simple note to a more detailed printed sheet. Both receipts are a token of acknowledgment for the payment. However, the differences may limit one receipt to specific tax and financial fields while the other has no constrained purviews. To ensure your business uses a professional receipt, check for the following essentials:
- Business name and address
- Date
- Amount paid
- List of items or service
- Quantity of goods
- VAT number
- Signatures of the payer and payee
- Contact details of the seller and the buyer
The essentials of the receipt are the foundation of all types of receipts. Receipts may vary between essentials and additional information depending on the transaction. For instance, a hotel receipt will include the hotel room number, type of food, and its price in addition to the essentials. In comparison, a rent receipt will consist of the house number and the breakdown of the rent due from utilities to housing maintenance charges.
A business needs to have a professional design of the receipts. Professionally designed receipts come in handy for large organizations that face an uphill task of recording. Also, when filing tax refund claims, you may require to produce the receipts.
As previously stated, the contents of the receipt determine the title and the use. Here is an overview of receipts you are likely to encounter in your routine transactions:
General Receipt Templates
A general receipt is for the general purposes of any transaction. General receipt templates can create different receipts for different purposes. The general receipt format can be tabular or in list form. General receipt templates contain the dates, names of the transacting parties, the amount paid, goods sold description, and the signatures.
Rent Receipt Templates
In a landlord-tenant relationship, it is essential to record rent details for the premise through receipts. Rent receipts capture rent amount the date of payment, among other essentials. A rent receipt is a legal document; therefore, the tenant and the landlord should append their signatures. Typically a rent receipt includes:
- Rent amount
- Date of payment
- Brief description of the property
- Tenant’s name and contact information
- Mode of payment
- Rent arrears
- Extra charges
- Signatures of the tenant and the landlord
The essential details can be in different layouts, such as a sum of the payable amount or a breakdown of the total figure. Landlords issue rent receipts to tenants on the payment date. It is essential to keep such records to safeguard the interests and rights of both the landlord and tenant.
Note: Some states require landlords to produce rent receipts when they want to evict a tenant on the grounds of non-payment. If the landlord doesn’t have the receipts indicating non-payment, the court may rule in favor of the tenant.
Cash Receipt Templates
A cash receipt template is similar to a rent receipt, only that it reflects the details of a sales transaction instead of rent. A seller issues a sales receipt to the buyer to indicate they have paid the correct amount for a particular good(s).Cash receipts contain the following information:
- Vendor’s name or business name
- Name of the customer and contact details
- Name of the salesperson
- Amount paid
- Quantity of goods
- Brief description of the good (optional)
Cash receipts are proof of the transaction. When customers want to return or exchange a product, they have to provide a receipt. The seller also retains a copy of the receipt.
Note: The IRS recommends you keep your receipts for three years for tax benefits. If you filed for tax deductions, you need receipts for up to seven years that aid in computing appropriate tax deductions.
Payment Receipt Templates
A payment receipt serves as proof of purchase. It indicates the correct amount for the goods that have been paid. It is similar to a cash receipt but goes further into details. The receipt contains the payment date, amount, seller’s and buyer’s details. Sellers generate the receipt after purchase or to accompany a delivery.
Sales Receipt Templates
Sales receipt templates ease generating sales receipts for recording particular transactions. If you have used a sales book, you have come across a sales receipt. The sales receipt details match the payment receipt.
You can customize a sales receipt template with your business’s logo and name. Sales receipts usually maintain a minimalistic background. However, you are not limited to being creative about it.
Donation Receipt Templates
Donation receipt templates are used to generate donation receipts for charitable organizations. The receipt aids in official record-keeping and tracking of funds donated. A standard donation receipt contains the following:
- Organization name
- Donor name
- Amount donated
- Date of donation
- Mode if donation
Charitable organizations usually receive tax benefits. Having your receipts enables the organization to receive the correct tax deductions.
Taxi Receipt Templates
Expenses incurred while traveling via taxi require receipts to record the costs. Taxi receipt templates enable taxi drivers to issue receipts to their clients after completing the journey. The significant merit of a taxi receipt is tracking your travel expenses and maintaining records for each employee in the organization. Tax receipts contain the date, taxi number plate; distance traveled, amount, name of the driver, and passenger.
Deposit Receipt Templates
A deposit receipt template is a basis for a deposit receipt. Deposit receipts acknowledge that a buyer has paid the earnest amount to purchase a particular item or property. The receipt is binding and ensures the buyer will complete the total amount. Also, the seller cannot sell the item until the specified date. Standard deposit receipts contain:
- Names of the seller and the buyer
- Deposit amount
- Purpose of the deposit
- Date to complete the payment
- Date of receiving the deposit
Hotel Receipt Templates
Hotel managers use hotel receipt templates to create hotel receipts to track the services the hotel renders. Hotel receipts contain the social media handles of the hotel, food served and total price, date of the sale, table number, and name of the attendant.
Hotel receipt templates make work easier for managers who deal with many transactions. Customizing the templates is easy, and you can do it on MS Word.
FAQs
A receipt can be a handwritten note, or you can use a template. A hassle-free template adds a touch of professionalism to your receipt.
Handwritten receipts are valid if written correctly. Handwritten receipts are legal, but it is better to print them and retain the original.
Write legibly on a standard A5 paper and record all the details of the transactions. Ensure the handwritten receipts have the signatures of the buyer and the seller.
Signatures add the extra layer of legality to receipts. Affix signatures of both parties.
The IRS recommends keeping Gross receipts, raw material purchases receipts, credit card receipts, petty cash receipts, and invoices for tax benefits. The receipts can take any format as long as they have the date, amount, description of the expenses, and place of transaction.
Conclusion
Receipts are valuable tools for record-keeping. They form the basis of financial records. Ensure you maintain records of receipts chronologically. Use templates to make receipt creating a hassle-free process.
