What is the difference between a receipt and an invoice?

An invoice is a request for money: it carries a balance due and a deadline. A receipt is a record that money already arrived: it carries an amount paid and a date, and asks for nothing. If a document has a pay button on it, it is an invoice. If it says PAID, it is a receipt. The order is always quote, then invoice when the work is done, then receipt when the money lands.

What should a contractor's receipt include?

The word RECEIPT at the top, its own receipt number separate from your invoice numbers, the date the payment was received rather than the date of the work, the amount paid and the method, which invoice or job it applies to, and — if the job is not fully settled — paid to date and the remaining balance. It should carry no pay button, no due date and no ways-to-pay block.

What do I send when a customer pays part of a job?

Send a receipt for that payment showing the amount received, the total paid to date and the balance remaining. On a $3,800 job with $1,200 paid, the receipt says $1,200 received, $1,200 paid to date, $2,600 remaining. Both of you then read the same balance, and the final invoice cannot surprise anyone. It is also the cleanest answer to the argument that starts with I already gave you a deposit.

Should I send a receipt if the customer paid cash?

Especially then. With cash there is no card statement and no transfer record, so the receipt is the only record either side has. For a check that has not cleared, note the check number on the receipt so there is no confusion later about which payment was which. Whether a written receipt is legally required, what it must show and how long you must keep a copy depend on your state and your trade licensing, so check your state and ask your accountant.

Is a deposit receipted or invoiced?

Receipted. A deposit is money that arrived, so it follows the receipt rule, and the final invoice should show it applied against the total. If the scope of the job grows after the deposit is taken, write that up as a change order rather than sliding it into the final bill.

Receipt vs Invoice: What to Send After a Customer Pays

Same job, two different pieces of paper, and they get mixed up constantly. An invoice asks for money. A receipt confirms money already arrived. Sending an invoice to someone who paid you an hour ago reads like you lost track of their payment — and that's the impression that costs you the repeat call.

This guide covers what belongs on each document, what to send when a customer pays part of a job, and why it's worth sending a receipt even for cash.

The one-line difference

An invoice is a request. It carries a balance due and a deadline. A receipt is a record. It carries an amount paid and a date, and it asks for nothing. If a document has a PAY NOW button on it, it's an invoice. If it says PAID, it's a receipt.

The order is always the same: quote first, invoice when the work is done, receipt when the money lands. Skip the middle one and you've asked for nothing; skip the last one and the customer has no proof they paid you.

What goes on an invoice

Your business name, address, phone and license number where your trade requires it.
The customer's name and the job address, if it's different from where you're sending the bill.
An invoice number, and the date you issued it.
Line items describing the work, with prices and any tax.
Any deposit or earlier payment already applied.
Balance due, and a due date — see Net 30 vs due on receipt for which term fits which customer.
How to pay you: a link, a QR code, a handle, a mailing address. The easier this is, the faster it clears.

What goes on a receipt

The word RECEIPT, clearly, at the top. Not "invoice — paid."
Its own receipt number, separate from your invoice numbers.
The date the payment was received, not the date the work was done.
The amount paid, and how — card, cash, check, Zelle, Venmo, whatever it was.
Which invoice or job it applies to.
Paid to date and the remaining balance, if the job isn't fully settled.
No pay button, no due date, no ways-to-pay block. A receipt asking for money is a bug.

Partial payments: the receipt that does the real work

On a multi-day job the useful document isn't the final receipt, it's the one for each payment along the way. A customer hands you $1,200 against a $3,800 job; the receipt for that payment should say $1,200 received, $1,200 paid to date, $2,600 remaining. Now both of you are looking at the same balance, and the final invoice can't surprise anybody.

That's also the cleanest answer to the most common billing argument in the trades — "I already gave you a deposit." Yes: here's the numbered receipt with the date and the amount on it.

In QuoteIron: every payment you record against a job can be sent as its own numbered receipt (RCPT-2026-001, and up), stamped PAID, with paid-to-date and balance printed on it. It reuses the job's existing document link rather than minting a new one, so the customer keeps one link per job instead of collecting five. Receipts and partial payments are in Pro, not a higher tier — see the QuoteIron vs Joist comparison for where those sit on other apps' price lists.

Deposits, cash, and the paper trail

Cash is where receipts earn their keep. There's no card statement, no transfer record, nothing in anyone's banking app — the receipt is the record, for you and for them. Same with a check that hasn't cleared yet: note the check number on the receipt so there's no confusion later about which payment was which.

A deposit gets a receipt too. It's money that arrived, so it follows the receipt rule, not the invoice rule, and the final invoice should show it applied. If the job's scope grows after the deposit, that's a change order — keep the change on its own paper rather than sliding it into the final bill.

Do you have to send a receipt?

For your own books, you want the record regardless. Whether a written receipt is required, what it has to show, and how long you have to keep a copy all depend on your state, your trade licensing and how the payment was taken — card-payment rules are their own category. Check your state, and ask your accountant how they want this filed. We're contractors' software, not your accountant or your attorney.

What isn't in question: sending one is free, takes a tap, and it's the last thing the customer sees from you on that job. It's a cheap way to look like the professional you are.

Where this shows up most

Anywhere the customer pays you in the driveway. Handyman and appliance-repair work is mostly paid on the spot, often in cash, which is exactly the case where a receipt is the only record either side gets. Garage-door and pressure-washing calls run the same way. On longer jobs the receipts matter for a different reason: they keep a running balance both of you agree on.

More on how QuoteIron handles quotes, invoices and payments end to end in the FAQ. Leaving another app and want your client list and prices to come with you? The how to cancel Jobber guide covers the export steps and the renewal-date traps before you go.

General information for tradesmen, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Receipt requirements, record-retention periods and payment-handling rules vary — check your state and ask your accountant.