The template
Replace every sample value with your own.
- Receipt no.: CR-0142
- Date: 14 May
- Received from: Marcus Lee
- Received by: Northside Bike Repair, 220 Elm Street
- For: wheel truing and brake service
- Amount: $86.40
- Amount in words: eighty-six dollars and forty cents
- Sales tax included: $6.40
- Paid by: cash
- Balance due: $0.00
- Received by (signature): ____________
Download the printable cash receipt (PDF)
The PDF carries the same lines twice on one Letter page: a copy for the customer and one for your records, with boxes for a payment in full, a part payment, a deposit or a refund.
What each line is for
- The number ties the receipt to your copy. One running sequence, never reused, and never shared with your invoice numbers.
- "For" names what was paid for. A receipt that says only "services" proves money changed hands and nothing about why.
- The amount in words is the old defence against a 1 becoming a 7. Figures are easy to alter; words are not.
- Sales tax goes on its own line when you charged it, so the customer can see it and your records can total it.
- The balance says whether this payment settled everything. A deposit or part-payment shows what is still owed.
- The signature is yours, not the customer's: it is the business confirming it took the money.
Keep the copy, in order
A duplicate receipt book exists for this reason: the customer takes the top sheet and the stub stays with you. Whatever you use, keep your copies in number order. A gap in the sequence is the first thing anyone checking cash takings looks for.
Match each day's receipts to the cash you bank. The receipts are your record of income that arrived without a bank trail, and the IRS expects you to be able to show where every figure came from.
Over $10,000 in cash
A business that receives more than $10,000 in cash, in one payment or in related payments, has to report it to the IRS on Form 8300 within 15 days. The receipt does not replace the form; it is part of the record the form is filed from.
Rent, deposits and other special cases
- Rent paid in cash has its own rules in several states, and its own lines — the property and the period. Use a rent receipt for it.
- A refundable deposit gets a receipt that says "deposit", so neither side mistakes it for payment in full.
- A refund paid out in cash gets a receipt too, signed by the customer this time, because it is now your money leaving.
For rent specifically, the rent receipt template covers the lines a landlord needs.
When the customer pays later
If the work is billed before it is paid, the invoice comes first and the receipt after — the difference between an invoice and a receipt is which side of the payment you are on.
An invoice made here can be marked paid when the money arrives, and a payment confirmation emailed with the paid invoice attached. For a cash payment, write the receipt above as well: the paid invoice does not record how the money came.
Common questions
- How do you write a cash receipt?
- Give it the next number in your sequence and the date, then write who paid, what they paid for, the amount in figures and in words, any sales tax included and any balance still owed. Sign it as the person who took the cash and keep the copy.
- Is a cash receipt legally required?
- It depends on what was sold and where. Some states require one for rent paid in cash, and a customer who asks for one should get it. Even where nothing requires it, a cash payment with no receipt is income you cannot prove you recorded.
- Can I email a cash receipt?
- Yes. What makes it a receipt is what it says, not the paper. Keep a copy of what you sent, numbered with the rest.
- What if I make a mistake on a receipt?
- Void it — write "void" across it and keep it in the sequence — and issue a new one with the next number. Do not destroy it: a missing number looks like a missing payment.
- Does the customer need to sign a cash receipt?
- No. The person who received the money signs it. The customer signs only when the cash goes the other way, as with a refund.