Keeping track of expenses is the fiscal responsibility of every business owner no matter how many products they sell. This is where a receipt book proves invaluable. A receipt book not only aids you in tracking the invoice payment but also offers financial transparency.
The days of manually recording receipt details in a separate book are long gone. Nowadays, you may have noticed many businesses using digital receipts. This shift is because issuing digital receipts can aid you in keeping accurate track of financial records.
However, some small businesses believe there is a long way to go in embracing the trend of digital receipts. Regardless, it does not matter if you keep a receipt book or store receipts digitally, you must know how to write a receipt in a receipt book correctly.
For that, you don’t need to go anywhere because we will explain how to fill out the receipt book right here. Let’s get started with its meaning and receipt book example.
What Is a Receipt Book?
A receipt book refers to a booklet consisting of copies of receipts provided to customers after receiving the payment. Each saved receipt offers insights into the payer’s details, time, and date, including, what it was for.
So, it is proof that the customer has paid the amount on the mentioned date. Hence, it is an accounting process to keep track of the completed payments in a booklet. Apart from transaction records, it also serves as evidence when it comes to filing tax returns.
There isn’t a fixed number of receipts stored in a receipt book, but typically, each pre-printed receipt comes in two colors. The first color is for the original copy, which is handed over to the customer once payment is made. The second color is for the duplicate copy, which remains in the receipt book for your financial records.
Receipt Book Example
Let us understand how to fill out a receipt book by looking at an example:
For instance, imagine you are running a local bakery shop in Massachusetts. A customer buys chocolate cookies and pays $20 in cash. After accepting the payment, you will create a receipt that includes the item’s name, quantity, received amount, and payment method. Once the receipt is generated, you will hand over the first copy to the customer, and the second copy will stay in your receipt book for your records.
How Do You Fill out a Receipt Book?
Filling out a receipt book is no more a cumbersome task, all thanks to powerful invoicing software, Moon Invoice. Here’s how to write a receipt book using automation software.
1. Add Business’s Details
Open Moon Invoice in the web browser and go to ‘Sales Receipt’ where you can generate a new digital receipt. Now start adding your business details such as business name, contact number, office address, and email address. If needed, you can showcase the company’s logo to enhance brand awareness. It helps the buyer to learn about who is the issuer. So, remember, filling up business details is the first step when you start generating receipts.
2. Include Buyer’s Information
Later, come to the next section where you can enter details about your buyer such as full name, billing address, city, and zip code. At this point, you need to mention the date on which the receipt is issued. Here you can even change the currency as Moon Invoice offers multi-currency support. Hence, you can opt for local currency or international currency depending on your client’s location.
3. Describe Products & Their Quantity
List out how many products or services you delivered to clients along with a short description. You can even mention the quantity of products and rates. Here, there is no limit to adding products, so you can include multiple products. Once entered, you can double-check if the products and their quantity are correct. Notably, you can do unlimited edits in the receipt template even after you save receipts.
4. Populate Invoicing Details
Now comes the important part which is to fill in the invoicing details. As long as you are using Moon Invoice, there is no need to enter the paid amount manually. The moment you enter the rates of products or services, it will automatically count the total amount. Here, you have an option to add discounts if you have offered products at discounted rates. Also, you can include the shipping cost separately.
5. Write Payment Terms
Moving on to the next section, you need to add payment terms & conditions, though it’s not always required. This is an optional field to inform customers if there were any penalty charges included in the amount. You can even place a small note in case you want to drop any message for your buyers.
6. Customize Receipt Template
Thereafter, save the changes in the receipt template and choose any one from the different receipt templates available on Moon Invoice. You can go to PDF & Print settings to change the design and layout of the receipt template. Moon Invoice offers fully customizable receipt templates to meet your business requirements. No matter how many receipts you create on Moon Invoice, they will be securely stored in the cloud platform. As a result, it would be easy to share with clients and access them from remote locations.
Manage Receipts Without Fear of Losing Them
Get Moon Invoice to digitally save your receipts in a cloud platform and leave no chance of misplacement.
The Importance of Filling Out a Receipt Book Correctly
Filling out the receipt books might seem to be a bit tedious but it’s important as far as your bookkeeping duties and tax obligations are concerned. Here are a few reasons why you need to fill out receipt books.
1. Financial Records
A receipt book can make your payment tracking job easier as it has every transaction record. Based on financial records, you can generate a financial report to analyze sales patterns and eventually make an informed business decision.
2. Tax documentation
Keeping a receipt book means you don’t need to conduct manual searches to gather sales tax data from every corner of your office. Such an easy availability of tax data will further help you create tax reports as quickly as possible.
3. Settle False Claims
A receipt book consists of duplicate receipt copies so that you can deal with false claims made by customers or settle any disputes. It records when the receipt was issued and the amount paid. Since the receipt is issued only after the product’s delivery, it serves as confirmation that the product was sold during the specified period.
Tips for Filling Out a Receipt Book
If you are filling out a receipt book for the first time, then here are some useful tips to consider while doing so.
1. Use Receipt Templates
You can make the most of receipt templates available from online tools instead of generating poorly written receipts on paper. It is advisable because you neither have to worry about storage issues nor the hassle of maintaining financial records. Using receipt templates, the only thing you need to do is enter the details correctly and it’s all done.
2. Store Receipt Book Digitally
Another thing you need to keep in mind is to always save receipts on a cloud-based invoicing platform. Developing a habit of storing receipts digitally on software helps you find receipts quickly whenever the need arises. With this digital process, You can find the receipt copy in a fraction of a second.
3. Prioritize Cross-checking
Whether you’re filling out a receipt online or offline, it’s important to ensure all details are correct. Whenever you create a new receipt, double-check that the date, time, and amount paid are correctly entered. Otherwise, you could face issues if someone decides to take legal action. Therefore, always prioritize cross-checking a receipt.
4. Highlight Date & Amount
While generating a receipt, make sure you highlight the date of payment received and the paid amount. By doing so, it would be easier to grab a person’s attention while reading a receipt. This will help accountants collect data efficiently at the time of filing a tax return. In addition to that, it will help generate financial reports as you can easily pick up the mentioned date and amount.
Make Accurate Receipts Without Wasting a Minute
With Moon Invoice, now you generate an accurate receipt from a variety of readymade receipt templates with no extra effort.
Conclusion
Keeping a receipt book is all about managing transaction data for your collection process. Small or large, every business needs to follow the same process as far as bookkeeping duties are concerned. Now you know how to fill out a receipt book and also the reasons why maintaining a receipt book is important.
If you’re sick of using paper-based receipts, you can switch to a modern and effective way of creating receipts. Automation software like Moon Invoice can help you generate unlimited receipts in a professional manner and reduce your overall workload. It offers 66+ readymade templates, which means you don’t have to make a receipt from scratch. Try using a 7-day free trial.
FAQs
Jayanti Katariya is the founder & CEO of Moon Invoice, with over a decade of experience in developing SaaS products and the fintech industry. He holds a degree in engineering. Since 2011, Jayanti's expertise has helped thousands of businesses, from small startups to large enterprises, streamline invoicing, estimation, and accounting operations. His vision is to deliver top-tier financial solutions globally, ensuring efficient financial management for all business owners.
