Receipt

A receipt is the document of completion. An invoice asks for payment. A receipt confirms it. The same transaction typically produces both: the invoice goes out when the work or sale is done, and the receipt goes back when the buyer pays. In point-of-sale retail, the invoice and receipt collapse into a single document because payment happens at the moment of sale.

For B2B invoicing, a receipt is often optional in practice. The buyer's accounting system already has the invoice on file plus its own record of the outbound payment, which together prove the transaction. The seller's bank statement or payment provider notification serves the same purpose. A formal receipt becomes important when the buyer needs proof of payment for a third party: expense reimbursement, tax return, warranty claim, or VAT/GST input tax credit in jurisdictions that require it.

Where receipts are legally required, the requirements are usually thinner than for invoices. A receipt has to show the seller's identity, the amount received, the date, what the payment was for, and (in VAT or GST jurisdictions, sometimes) the tax breakdown. The sequential numbering and detailed line items that invoices need are not always required on receipts.