Learn how and when to issue a professional receipt that protects your rights and your clients'.
A receipt is a document that proves payment has been made for a good or service. It shows the amount paid, the payment method and the date, and it serves as proof of payment for the buyer and an accounting record for the seller.
An invoice is issued before payment and asks the client to pay; a receipt is issued after payment and confirms they have. The invoice shows an amount due, the receipt the amount received. When a customer pays on the spot, issue both the same day: the invoice for the sale, the receipt for the money.
In your books the two do opposite jobs. The invoice records money owed to you; the receipt records that it was paid, and clears it. So any sale that is not paid on the spot needs both, each with its own number: the invoice when you deliver, the receipt when the money arrives.
Give receipts a number series of their own, separate from your invoices, and quote the invoice number in the receipt's reference. When you mark an invoice paid in Xuvilo's document tracker, it issues one receipt for the invoice's full amount, numbered REC- followed by the invoice number rather than the next number in your receipt series; you can change that number when you open the receipt to edit it. For a part payment, issue the receipt from the receipt generator with its own number.
Record only the amount you actually received, put the invoice number in the receipt's reference, and note the balance still due. A customer who pays one invoice in three instalments gets one invoice and three receipts, each pointing to the same invoice — so neither side ever has to work out from memory what is still owed.
A receipt confirms money; it is not a tax invoice. Where VAT applies, a business customer reclaims the tax on the tax invoice, so they usually need both documents. Xuvilo's receipt records one amount with no tax lines and no ZATCA QR code: issue the tax invoice from the invoice generator, where the Phase 1 QR code is available, and the receipt when it is paid.
A receipt never replaces the tax invoice, even when the customer has already paid. In the UAE a VAT-registered seller must issue a tax invoice for every standard-rated supply; a simplified tax invoice is allowed when the customer is not registered for VAT, or is registered and the supply is AED 10,000 or less, but not where the reverse charge applies, and not for a tax invoice issued as an electronic invoice under the UAE's e-invoicing system. In Saudi Arabia a sale to a consumer is usually documented with a simplified tax invoice, which must carry a QR code generated to ZATCA's specification.
Xuvilo's receipt generator records who paid, the amount received, the method — cash, bank transfer, cheque or card — and a reference number, with notes for anything else. Every receipt design has an Arabic version that prints right to left, headed «إيصال». Download PDF gives you an A4 file, and the WhatsApp and Email buttons send it.
If you track your invoices in the document tracker, press Paid on an invoice, keep Issue receipt ticked and press Mark paid: the receipt is issued with the payer, amount, currency and today's date filled in, and the invoice number as its reference. Add the payment method yourself; the tracker does not know how they paid.
An invoice requests payment; a receipt confirms payment was made. The invoice is usually issued before payment, the receipt after.
Yes, it's always best to issue a receipt to the client as proof of payment. It protects both sides legally and for accounting.
If you're tax-registered, it's good practice to show your tax number on the receipt, especially in business-to-business transactions.
Yes, electronic receipts are accepted in most countries as long as they contain the required information and were issued correctly.
Not quite. The invoice is the record of the sale and the receipt the record of the payment, and a business customer's accounts usually need both. Issue a receipt rather than marking the invoice paid.
If you issued a tax invoice for the sale (full or simplified), issue a credit note that refers to it, then refund the money. Keep the original receipt on file; do not edit it.
See also: Invoice Guide · Quotation Guide
