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A receipt (also known as a packing list, packing slip, packaging slip, (delivery) docket, shipping list, delivery list, bill of the parcel,
manifest Manifest may refer to: Computing * Manifest file, a metadata file that enumerates files in a program or package * Manifest (CLI), a metadata text file for CLI assemblies Events * Manifest (convention), a defunct anime festival in Melbourne, Aus ...
, or customer receipt) is a document acknowledging that a person has received money or property in payment following a sale or other transfer of goods or provision of a service. All receipts must have the date of purchase on them. If the recipient of the payment is legally required to collect
sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...
or VAT from the customer, the amount would be added to the receipt, and the collection would be deemed to have been on behalf of the relevant tax authority. In many countries, a retailer is required to include the sales tax or VAT in the displayed price of goods sold, from which the tax amount would be calculated at the point of sale and remitted to the tax authorities in due course. Similarly, amounts may be deducted from amounts payable, as in the case of taxes withheld from wages. On the other hand, tips or other gratuities that are given by a customer, for example in a restaurant, would not form part of the payment amount or appear on the receipt. In some countries, it is obligatory for a business to provide a receipt to a customer confirming the details of a transaction. In most cases, the recipient of money provides the receipt, but in some cases, the receipt is generated by the payer, as in the case of goods being returned for a refund. A receipt is not the same as an
invoice An invoice, bill or tab is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction and indicating the products, quantities, and agreed-upon prices for products or services the seller had provided the buyer. Payment ...
. There is usually no set form for a receipt, such as a requirement that it be machine-generated. Many point-of-sale terminals or cash registers can automatically produce receipts. Receipts may also be generated by accounting systems, be manually produced, or generated electronically, for example, if there is no face-to-face transaction. To reduce the cost of postage and processing, many businesses do not mail receipts to customers unless specifically requested or required by law, with some transmitting them electronically. Others, to reduce time and paper, may endorse an invoice, account, or statement as "paid".


Process


Shop receipts

The practice in most shops at the
point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice ...
is for a salesperson to scan or record the price of a customer's proposed purchases, including tax, discounts, credits, and other adjustments. In traditional situations and still in some family businesses today, the salesperson would then show the customer the summary, the invoice, for their agreement; but many shops today bypass this stage. The practice of presenting an invoice is most common in restaurants where a "bill" is presented after a meal. The salesperson would indicate to the customer (whether by way of an invoice or otherwise) the total amount payable, and the customer would indicate the proposed method of payment of the amount. Payment in cash is regarded as payment of the amount tendered, but payment by store account is not. After processing the payment, the salesperson would then generate in one document an
invoice An invoice, bill or tab is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction and indicating the products, quantities, and agreed-upon prices for products or services the seller had provided the buyer. Payment ...
and receipt. If payment was made by a
payment card Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner (the cardholder) to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and m ...
, a payment record would normally also be generated. The invoice and receipt are the printed record of the transaction and are legal documents. A copy of these documents would normally be handed to the customer, though this step may be dispensed with. In many countries, a retailer may be under a legal obligation to provide a receipt to a customer which shows the details of a transaction and the shop and other information so that the tax authority can check that sales and related taxes are not being hidden. The document may also include messages from the retailer, warranty or return details, special offers, advertisements, or
coupons In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be redeemed for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in r ...
, but these are merely promotional and not part of the formal receipt.


Other receipts

Receipts may also be provided for non-retail operations such as banking transactions.


Barcodes

Shops that use
barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or on ...
readers may generate receipts with a barcode of the receipt identification number, which enables a salesperson to scan the barcode and quickly retrieve the details of the original transaction, for example: if a customer seeks to return or exchange goods or there is some other query.


Customer history

If linked to a customer shop account, some retailers' point-of-sale systems also allow the salesperson to see a complete record of the customer's buying history. A receipt (or a copy of a receipt) is the proof of purchase usually needed to make a return and often plays a vital part in a company's return and exchange policy.


Recipients

An invoice goes to the person responsible for paying the bill while the shipping list (or packaging slip) goes to the recipient. The shipping list is included in the shipped box. In some scenarios, the same person will pay the bill and receive the shipment. However, a person can buy and pay for a product and send it to someone else (e.g. a gift).


Shipping list details

Shipping lists vary depending on the business and its products. Every shipment to a customer should contain a shipping list with the order date, the products included, and the quantity of each product. Some businesses may include the weight of each product. Many recipients use them as checklists when unpacking their shipments. If something they ordered is missing or shipped in error, they alert the seller.


Manual receipts

Hand-written or hand-completed receipts are more often used for infrequent or irregular transactions, or for transactions conducted in the absence of a terminal, cash register or point of sale: for example, as provided by a landlord to a tenant to record the receipt of rent. They can also be required when company representatives buy goods, because tax deduction rules might require hand signed receipts.


Related industries

Organizing receipts and similar financial documents is a multimillion-dollar industry in the United States. Consumers can use both desktop and online software to organize electronic receipts; sometimes, receipts are sent digitally from point of sale devices directly to consumers. The growing trend of digital receipts has led to the launch of new businesses focused on digital receipt management.


See also

*
Bill of lading A bill of lading () (sometimes abbreviated as B/L or BOL) is a document issued by a carrier (or their agent) to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment. Although the term historically related only to carriage by sea, a bill of lading may toda ...
* Bill of materials * Certificate of origin * Delivery order * Document * Document automation *
Invoice An invoice, bill or tab is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction and indicating the products, quantities, and agreed-upon prices for products or services the seller had provided the buyer. Payment ...
*
Manifest (transportation) A manifest, customs manifest or cargo document is a document listing the cargo, passengers, and crew of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle, for the use of customs and other officials. Where such a list is limited to identifying passengers, it is a pas ...
* Short shipment *
Cash register A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a drawer for storing cash and other v ...
* Depositary receipt * Document automation in supply chain management & logistics * Special journals *
Point of sales The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...
*
Proof of purchase Proof of purchase is often required for sales promotions and manufacturer rebates as evidence that the customer purchased the product. When multiple purchases are required to redeem these rewards, it is referred to as a premium incentive or colle ...
*
Return receipt In email, a return receipt is an acknowledgment by the recipient's email client to the sender of receipt of an email message. What acknowledgment, if any, is sent by the recipient to the sender is dependent on the email software of the recipient. ...
*
Electronic receipt The electronic receipt or e-receipt is an electronic Receipt of any product or service that was purchased. Implementation Digital receipts are normally sent via e-mail or via an app. Unlike paper receipts, e-receipts are used to reduce paper us ...
(E-receipt)


References

{{Authority control Accounting source documents Paper products