Create Your Receipt

A receipt is a written acknowledgment from a business or seller that a payment was received — stating who paid, who received it, what it was for, the amount, the date, and the payment method. It is a unilateral evidentiary document, not a contract: no signature, witness, or notarization is required for validity (general commercial law). Its legal weight is as proof of payment — payment is an affirmative defense the payer must prove, and the receipt is the standard evidence that proves it.

An invoice requests payment for goods or services; a receipt acknowledges payment already received. They are the two halves of the billing cycle. This receipt can reference the invoice it pays with a "For Invoice #" line, so the two documents cross-reference each other — the sequential, complete records the IRS expects (IRS Publication 583). If you need to bill first, ConsumerShield's Invoice Template is the matching document.

No US state imposes a blanket duty on businesses to issue receipts for every transaction — but a payer may demand one (in California, any debtor is entitled to a signed, dated written receipt for any payment, Cal. Civ. Code § 1499), commercial payers need them to substantiate expenses of $75 or more (26 C.F.R. § 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii)), and specific domains like residential rent have mandatory receipt statutes (e.g., N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 235-e — served by our dedicated Rent Receipt product). Issuing one with every payment is simply the practice that prevents disputes.

Choose the Partial Payment type. The receipt prints the total price, the amount received, and the balance due — plus a sentence expressly reserving the right to collect the remainder. This is the legally careful way to do it: a receipt silent about an outstanding balance can be raised as an accord-and-satisfaction argument that the account was settled for less (cf. U.C.C. § 3-311, governing "paid in full" instruments).

Only the last four digits. Federal law (FACTA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g)) prohibits electronically printed card receipts from displaying more than the last 5 digits of the card number or any expiration date, and willful violations carry statutory damages. This form's card reference field accepts a maximum of four digits, so a full card number can never reach the document.

Yes, whenever tax was collected as part of the payment. States generally require or presume collected sales tax to be separately stated on the bill or receipt given to the purchaser (e.g., N.Y. Tax Law § 1132(a); Cal. Civ. Code § 1656.1). Enter the rate actually charged and the form renders subtotal, tax, and amount received as separate lines; at 0% the tax line is suppressed.

At least 3 years — the IRS assessment window for most returns (26 U.S.C. § 6501), and businesses must keep records sufficient to substantiate reported gross receipts (26 U.S.C. § 6001; IRS Publication 583). Payers should keep them as long as the underlying expense matters for taxes. Since this receipt doubles as dispute evidence, keeping it for the life of the business relationship costs nothing and settles arguments.