This guide is in English for now. The tool itself works in your language.
Receipt › Receipt or invoice
Receipt vs invoice: what is the difference?
An invoice asks for money. A receipt says the money has come. Most sales need both, though in a shop paid on the spot they often come together on one cash memo.
The difference at a glance
| Invoice | Receipt | |
|---|---|---|
| What it says | "You owe me this much for these goods or services" | "I have received this much from you" |
| When it is given | When goods are delivered or services done | When money is received |
| GST | A tax invoice is the main GST document; it goes into returns | No GST, except a receipt voucher for an advance |
| Items, HSN, tax | Yes | No; only the amount and how it was paid |
| Who keeps it as proof | Both; the buyer uses it for input tax credit | The payer, as proof of payment |
| Number series | Invoice series (INV/…) | Its own series (RCT/…) |
One invoice, many receipts
A tailoring unit bills a school INV/26-27/031 for ₹1,20,000 for uniforms on 1 Oct 2026. The school pays in three parts:
| Date | Receipt | Paid by | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Oct 2026 | RCT/26-27/021 | Cheque | ₹50,000 | ₹70,000 |
| 25 Oct 2026 | RCT/26-27/024 | Bank transfer | ₹40,000 | ₹30,000 |
| 4 Nov 2026 | RCT/26-27/029 | UPI | ₹30,000 | Nil |
Each receipt names the same invoice in "Against" and shows the balance still due. Nobody needs to ask "what is still pending?"
One receipt, many invoices
A regular buyer may pay several bills at once. Write all the numbers in "Against", for example INV/26-27/014, 015, 018, so the payment is matched to each bill in your books.
When the receipt comes first
If money comes before the supply, the receipt is an advance receipt. Under GST, a registered business issues a receipt voucher for it, and the tax invoice follows on supply. See advance receipt under GST.
When one paper does both
At a shop counter where the customer pays at once, a cash memo marked PAID works as bill and receipt together. The cash memo maker prints it on a thermal roll. A GST-registered business still gives a tax invoice from the invoice maker, and can mark it paid there.
Common mistakes
- Giving only an invoice and no receipt when payment is in cash: the payer has no proof.
- Using the invoice number as the receipt number.
- Writing "received" on an invoice before the cheque has cleared.
- Not writing the balance on a part-payment receipt, so a later argument turns on memory instead of paper.
Doing it in the maker
Make the bill in the invoice maker and note its number. When money comes in, open this maker, choose "Payment received", type the payer (saved customers come up as suggestions), the amount, how it was paid and the invoice number in "Against". Save, then Print / PDF or Share. The receipt goes into Saved receipts, and both documents sit in the same data home, so one backup file under My data holds them together.