Receipt
template

A receipt closes the loop on a sale: the customer has proof they paid, and you have a record of the payment. For most small sales there is no legal requirement to issue one, but customers expect it, and business customers need one for their own records. If you are VAT registered and sell to other businesses, a receipt can double as a simplified VAT invoice for sales up to £250. This template covers both.

When to use a receipt

Give a receipt whenever a customer pays you and wants proof: cash sales, card payments at an event, bank transfers for a job, payments for lessons or treatments. Business customers need a receipt to claim the cost as an expense. If the customer is VAT registered and wants to reclaim VAT, give a VAT invoice, or a simplified VAT invoice if the total is £250 or less. For an unpaid sale, you need an invoice, not a receipt.

What a receipt must show

An example receipt

The template comes filled in with example lines like these, so you can see how each part works before replacing them with your own.

Line by line: Guitar lessons, 4 x 1 hour, September, 4 hours × £30.00 = £120.00. The subtotal is £120.00, which is also the total paid because no VAT is charged. The figures are illustrative; replace them with your own.

How to fill in the template

1. Add your business details and the receipt number and date.
2. Add the customer's name if you have it.
3. Describe what was paid for, with quantity and price.
4. Show the amount paid and the payment method.
5. If you are VAT registered, add your VAT number and the VAT rate.
6. Give the customer a copy, and keep yours with your records.

Give each receipt its own number in a single sequence, and never reuse one. A number lets you and your customer refer to the document without confusion, and an unbroken sequence shows your records are complete. The invoice number generator suggests a format that stays tidy for years.

Receipts as simplified VAT invoices

A VAT-registered business can issue a simplified VAT invoice for supplies of £250 or less, including VAT. It needs your name, address and VAT number, the time of supply, a description of the goods or services, the total payable including VAT, and the VAT rate for each item. That is essentially a receipt with your VAT number and rate on it, which is why many retailers' till receipts are simplified VAT invoices. For sales over £250, a business customer who wants to reclaim VAT needs a full VAT invoice.

Receipt or invoice?

An invoice asks for payment; a receipt confirms it has been made. When a customer pays on the spot, a receipt is all you need. When you bill first and are paid later, you issue an invoice, then a receipt or a "paid" confirmation on request. Our guide to invoice vs receipt covers the difference.

Numbering receipts

Number receipts in their own sequence, such as R-0001, separate from invoices. A sequence makes it easy to find a receipt when a customer asks and shows your records are complete, which matters most for cash businesses. Never reuse a number, and keep voided receipts rather than throwing them away. Digital receipts from a card reader or till are numbered automatically; if you also write receipts by hand, keep them in a numbered book.

Cash businesses

If much of your income is in cash, receipts and a daily takings record are your main evidence of income. HMRC looks closely at cash businesses, so record every sale, bank takings regularly, and keep till rolls or receipt copies. Consistent records protect you in a compliance check, and help you see how the business is doing. The cash receipt template adds the extra details that make cash sales easy to evidence.

Digital receipts

Emailed or texted receipts are as valid as paper ones, and easier to keep. Card readers and payment apps usually offer them automatically. If you send receipts by email, use your business name as the sender and include the same details as a paper receipt. Keep your copies in one place, ideally linked to the sale in your records, because under Making Tax Digital your records must be digital once it applies to you.

Refunds and returns

Customers usually need their receipt, or other proof of purchase such as a bank statement, to return goods. Consumers have statutory rights to a refund, repair or replacement for faulty goods regardless of your returns policy. When you refund, issue a refund receipt or credit note, and record it against the original sale so your income is correct.

Receipts for your own expenses

Receipts you receive are just as important as those you give. Keep a receipt or invoice for every business expense, because it supports the deduction on your tax return, and if you are VAT registered, a valid VAT invoice or simplified invoice is usually needed to reclaim VAT. Photograph paper receipts before they fade, and use an app such as the TapTax receipt scanner to capture the details straight into your records.

Worked example

A music teacher who is not VAT registered is paid £120 in cash for four lessons. They write receipt R-0042 showing the parent's name, "Guitar lessons, 4 x 1 hour, September", £120, paid in cash, and give the parent the top copy. That evening they add £120 to their takings record, and bank it with the week's other lesson fees on Friday. At the year end, their receipts, takings record and bank statements all agree, so their Self Assessment income figure is easy to prove. If the teacher later registers for VAT, the same receipt with their VAT number and rate added would serve as a simplified VAT invoice.

Common receipt mistakes

• Not recording cash sales. Every sale is income, and receipts are your evidence.
• Leaving your VAT number off receipts when registered. Business customers then cannot reclaim VAT.
• Using a receipt to ask for payment. A receipt confirms payment; use an invoice to request it.

Checklist before you send it

Before a receipt goes out, check it against the list of what it must show:

• The word "Receipt", a number and the date is on it and correct.
• Your business name and address is on it and correct.
• The customer's name, if known is on it and correct.
• What was paid for is on it and correct.
• The amount paid and how (cash, card, transfer) is on it and correct.
• The invoice number it settles, if any is on it and correct.
• VAT number, rate and VAT-inclusive total, if you are registered is on it and correct.
• A copy is saved with your records.

Sending it

Send the receipt as a PDF attached to an email, not as an editable file. In the email, say what it is, its number, the amount and any date that matters, so the reader can act without opening the attachment. Send it to the person or inbox that deals with it, which for a business is often an accounts address rather than the person you worked with, and keep a copy of the email and the PDF together in your records.

Keep a copy

Keep a copy of every receipt you issue or receive, digital is fine, with the payments that relate to it. From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 must keep digital records and send HMRC quarterly updates under Making Tax Digital, falling to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. The MTD requirement checker shows when it applies to you, and how long to keep invoices covers retention.

Download the receipt template

The template comes as a Word document for Word, Google Docs and Pages, an Excel workbook for Excel and Google Sheets, and a print-ready PDF. Replace the words in square brackets with your own details. In the Excel version each line, the subtotal and the total are formulas, so the figures update as you type. Or fill it in online with the free receipt generator, which makes a finished PDF with your details, in your colours.

Related documents in the same family: the sales receipt template, cash receipt template, rent receipt template and deposit receipt template. All of them follow the same numbering and record-keeping rules, and each page explains what that document must show.

A TapTax account, free to start, creates and sends invoices, tracks which are paid, keeps receipts and bills with your records, and files your quarterly updates to HMRC from the same data.