What a payment receipt proves
A payment receipt ties one amount of money to one date and one purpose. It answers the questions that come up months later: Did they pay? How much? When? For which job?
That's different from a sales receipt handed over at the counter, which lists goods bought. A payment receipt often follows an invoice, and its main job is to show that a particular invoice, or part of it, is settled.
What to write on it
- Receipt number in its own series (RCT-0001…), so receipts never clash with invoice numbers.
- Date the money arrived, not the date you wrote the receipt, if they differ.
- Amount received in figures. For handwritten-style receipts some people add it in words too.
- Payment method: Zelle, check (with the check number), card (last four digits only), bank transfer, cash.
- The invoice it relates to. Put it in the reference field, e.g. "Invoice INV-0212".
- What's left: invoice total, paid to date and balance, in the notes.
Partial payments and installments
When a client pays in pieces, give a receipt for each piece, for the amount actually received. Never write a receipt for the full invoice amount "to be nice" before the last payment lands; it's your only proof that money is still owed.
A simple running total in the notes keeps it clear: "Invoice total $4,200. Paid to date $2,800. Balance $1,400 due May 2." Number installments too ("Payment 2 of 3"). When the final payment arrives, the last receipt can say "Paid in full".
Deposits work the same way: receipt the deposit when it comes in, then show it as already paid on the final invoice.
Make a payment receipt in Duebolt
- Add your business and the client (both are remembered on this device).
- Tap Payment toward invoice in quick add and type the amount received.
- Put the invoice number in Their reference and pick the payment method.
- Write the balance in the notes, then download or share the PDF.
If you made the invoice in Duebolt, it's quicker: open it in your account once it's paid and tap Make a receipt. Everything is copied over, dated today.
Refunds, bounced payments and corrections
Mistakes happen. If you wrote the wrong amount or the wrong client, don't edit the old receipt and resend it under the same number. Make a new receipt with the correct details and note on your own copy that the first one was replaced. Your numbering stays clean and both versions stay on record.
If a check bounces or a card payment is reversed after you issued a receipt, tell the client in writing that the payment failed and the balance is open again. When you refund money, write it down as well: a note with the date, the amount returned and the receipt or invoice it relates to. Your accountant will want to see the trail.
Last checked October 23, 2026.