Sales Invoice vs Sales Receipt: What’s the Difference?
Do you know the difference between a sales invoice and a sales receipt? When customers purchase a product or service, you may want to send them one of these documents. They are both supported by QuickBooks. You can use QuickBooks to create sales invoices or sales receipts. By understanding the difference between a sales invoice and a sales receipt, you can choose the right type for your business.
What Is a Sales Invoice?
A sales invoice is an accounts receivable (AR) document that requests money from a customer. Not all businesses require their customers to pay them immediately. Some businesses may deliver products or complete services upfront. After delivering the purchased products or completing the purchased services, these businesses will send their customers a sales invoice. This formal AR document will request money from the customer.
What Is a Sales Receipt?
A sales receipt is a transaction document that breaks down the products or services purchased by a customer. They provide a record of the transaction. When customers purchase a product or service, you may want to provide them with a sales receipt. The sales receipt will serve as a record by revealing information about the transaction, such as the products or services purchased by the customer.
Differences Between Sales Invoices and Sales Receipts
Sales invoices and sales receipts aren’t the same. Sales invoices are issued before payment, whereas sales receipts are issued after payment. You should only use sales invoices if customers are required to pay after their products have been delivered or their services have been completed. If customers pay in advance, you should use sales receipts.
Sales invoices and sales receipts contain different information. Sales receipts contain information about a given transaction. You can customize them with different information, but most sales receipts reveal the products or services purchased by the customer, the date on which the transaction took place, the price of the products or services, sales tax and more. Sales invoices, on the other hand, contain a request for money owed. They may list similar information, such as the products or services and the price, but sales invoices include repayment information, such as the due dates and minimum payment amounts.
Another difference between sales invoices and sales receipts is the way in which they are recorded. Sales receipts are recorded as income. Sales invoices, in comparison, are recorded as AR.
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