Official receipts of payments are important to maintain and keep track of for both businesses and individuals. These are a hard copy of any financial transactions that have taken place. Official receipts can help avoid any financial misunderstandings or errors and can be referred back to should anything be questioned later on. While most official receipts are carried out in a professional manner, it is possible to make your own make-shift document by hand if you are not in the position to create one with a template on the computer.
All official receipts should be clearly marked as a receipt. It sounds like an obvious task but writing ‘receipt’ in block capitals at the top of the document can help someone filing through a big cabinet spot it immediately. You should then write the receipt number, if you have one, next to it. If you can come up with a receipt number, this can be extremely useful for entering the transaction into a business database. Make sure that the date you have received the money is also clear on your document, this will deter any arguments further down the line about exactly when the transaction took place. First write ‘Received from’ followed by the payer’s first and last name and the amount that they have paid in both words and numerical values. Briefly state what the money is going towards, this could be rent, goods or a service. If the payments are made in regular intervals then include a section on the receipts with the current balance, payment amount and balance due. Then, make a note of whether the payment was made by cash, cheque, money order or credit card. Finally you should write ‘Received by’ at the bottom of the document and sing your name and initials. If possible add the contact details for both parties in the transaction, should you need to contact each other in the future.
All official receipts should be clearly marked as a receipt. It sounds like an obvious task but writing ‘receipt’ in block capitals at the top of the document can help someone filing through a big cabinet spot it immediately. You should then write the receipt number, if you have one, next to it. If you can come up with a receipt number, this can be extremely useful for entering the transaction into a business database. Make sure that the date you have received the money is also clear on your document, this will deter any arguments further down the line about exactly when the transaction took place. First write ‘Received from’ followed by the payer’s first and last name and the amount that they have paid in both words and numerical values. Briefly state what the money is going towards, this could be rent, goods or a service. If the payments are made in regular intervals then include a section on the receipts with the current balance, payment amount and balance due. Then, make a note of whether the payment was made by cash, cheque, money order or credit card. Finally you should write ‘Received by’ at the bottom of the document and sing your name and initials. If possible add the contact details for both parties in the transaction, should you need to contact each other in the future.
