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Do you need cash receipt templates for your business? Here are our 7 free best cash receipt templates you can use. Download the template of your choice and then fill out the fields.
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What is a cash receipt?
Your clients and customers need receipts for their records. On the other hand, you need receipts to monitor your sales and productivity.
A cash receipt is a written or printed document that states the amount of cash received from a customer or client in a cash sale transaction. A copy of this statement is given to the customer, and the other is for the supplier or freelancer for accounting purposes.
To put it simply, cash receipts are issued when an individual receives money from any external source (client, customer, bank, etc.). Typically, it is only when the cash has been received before you can offset the accounts receivable balance generated when the transaction occurred.
Cash receipts usually include the following:
- The transaction date
- Unique cash receipt number
- Payer’s name
- Receiver’s name
- What the payment was for
- The amount of cash received
- Subtotal, taxes, remaining balance
- Payment method (cash, check, or credit card)
- Payer’s signature
Receipts are crucial for record-keeping, as they increase the cash balance in a company’s balance sheet.
Cash receipts are for any business. As you know, every business operates differently. Some sell products or offer services on credit, meaning the customer can pay later. Other companies require upfront payment (partial or full) before selling a good or service. Whatever the type of sale transaction, suppliers or business owners should provide a cash receipt when the customer provides the cash or check as payment.
How cash receipts work
To help you better understand how cash receipts work, here are two examples: one associated with a cash sale (cash payment made immediately upon receipt of service or product), and the other is associated with credit (the customer pays the service or product rendered at a later time).
Example 1: Cash Sale
Your niece, Jenny, who lives just next door, is selling lemonade during summer. It’s a simple business, offering a simple product at a very affordable price of —$1 per glass.
She expects her customers to pay her immediately after she makes them lemonade, and she won’t sell you lemonade on credit, with a due date 30 days later. Each sale Jenny makes, she generates a $1 cash receipt.
Example 2: Credit Sale
Let’s say you are a distributor of washing machines, and you sell different brands. For quite some time, you have been purchasing your washing machines from different manufacturers, and each of them extended your credit terms, allowing you to order washing machines when you need them with a 60-day due date.
Although these manufacturers would recognize a sale after they ship the machines to you, this is not when they’d issue a cash receipt. Instead, the manufacturer would record the transaction as a receivable due in 60 days. The cash receipt will only be issued once you pay the items with cash or check. They would balance their records by reducing the receivable balance outstanding and increasing the cash balance.
What’s the difference between an invoice and a cash receipt?
A cash receipt is a printed document that states the goods or services have been paid already. It’s critical documentation of the completed transactions, proving the customer has paid the supplier or freelancer.
The supplier issues two cash receipts per transaction; one for the customer and the other for himself. Keeping these receipts is important for bookkeeping purposes. Cash receipts can be used as proof of transactions, which are helpful in case disputes arise.
On the other hand, an invoice is a document that summarizes the goods or services rendered by the supplier or freelancer. It shows the total amount the customer must pay and other important information related to the items or services.
An invoice may not always be necessary, more so if the customer pays in full amount immediately. Nevertheless, they are critical for monitoring clients’ payments, especially when you have too many to handle. Pretty much like cash receipts, invoices must have unique numbers as identifiers, client’s business information, a breakdown of items purchases, the total payable amount, and your contact information.
Spark Invoice Maker is an invoice generating app for freelancers and businesses—be it a startup or large enterprise. Spark Invoice makes creating and sending invoices fast and easy so that you can put more of your time and energy into your business’ growth.
How and when should you send a cash receipt?
You must issue a cash receipt for every good or service purchased from your business, regardless of how the customer will pay for it—cash, card, or check.
You may print the cash receipt as you sell the product and give it to your customer immediately after the transaction. Other customers may prefer digital cash receipts, so make sure you are open to this option. You will want to send your client a receipt as soon as possible after their purchase, so you and your customer can have the receipt handy for reference.
How to use the cash receipt templates
1. Select your preferred template and download the format that works best for you. Open the file (for word document, you may open it through Google Docs).
2. The files, by default, are in a “read-only” format. To create an editable version, click File > Make a copy.
3. Fill out the cash receipt and add other important information.
4. Download and save. You can send it directly to your clients as a link or download in PDF, Excel, or Document format for later.