Guides › Cash memo, bill, invoice or receipt
Cash memo, bill, invoice or receipt — which one do you need?
In a shop the four words get mixed up every day, and most of the time it does not matter. It starts to matter when a customer asks for "a proper invoice", when a company wants "a receipt for the payment", or when you need to prove what was sold and what was paid. Here is what each one is for.
The one-line answer
| Paper | Given when | Says |
|---|---|---|
| Cash memo | Goods sold and paid for on the spot | "You bought this and paid for it" |
| Bill | Goods or a service supplied, paid or not | "This is what you owe" |
| Invoice | A business sells to a business, or wants a formal record | "This is what you owe, with numbers, dates and tax" |
| Receipt | Money is received | "We received this much from you" |
Cash memo
The slip a shop hands over with the goods. It lists the items, the quantity, the rate and the total, and it means the customer has paid. A cash memo rarely carries the customer's name. Kiryana stores, garments shops, mobile shops and medical stores use it all day. If you print a book, see کیش میمو کیسے بنائیں for what to put on it, or use the free cash memo maker.
Bill
"Bill" is the everyday word for any paper that says what is owed. A restaurant bill, an electrician's bill, a bill for a month of cable: all of these can be paid later, so a bill often shows Total, Received and Balance. When a shop sells on udhaar, the paper is a bill, not a cash memo, because nothing has been paid yet. A bill book is just a numbered pad of bills; see the bill book format.
Invoice
An invoice is a bill with everything a company's accountant needs: your business name and address, an invoice number in sequence, the invoice date and a due date, the customer's registered name, each item on its own line, the subtotal, any tax with its rate, and the total. If you are registered for sales tax it also shows your NTN and STRN, and it becomes a sales tax invoice. Companies, schools, offices and government buyers ask for invoices because they file them. How to make an invoice walks through each part.
Receipt
A receipt proves that money changed hands. It names who paid, how much, on what date, by what means (cash, bank, JazzCash, Easypaisa) and against which bill. It never lists the goods again; that is the bill's job. A receipt matters most when a customer pays in parts: each payment gets its own receipt and the bill's balance comes down. The receipt format is free to download, and the payment receipt guide shows how to fill one.
A sale from start to finish
A hardware store supplies a contractor on 5 November: 20 bags of cement at Rs 1,350 and 6 kg of nails at Rs 420.
| Date | Paper | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Nov | Bill no. 231 (or an invoice, if the contractor is a company) | 29,520 | 29,520 |
| 5 Nov | Receipt no. 118 — cash on delivery | 20,000 | 9,520 |
| 19 Nov | Receipt no. 131 — bank transfer | 9,520 | 0 |
20 × 1,350 = 27,000 and 6 × 420 = 2,520, so the bill is Rs 29,520. One bill, two receipts, and the balance tells the story. If the contractor had paid the whole Rs 29,520 on the spot, a cash memo would have done.
Which one should your business give?
- Shop selling to walk-in customers: a cash memo; a bill when you sell on udhaar.
- Services and repairs: a bill with the parts and the labour on separate lines, and a receipt when paid.
- Selling to companies, schools or offices: an invoice; a sales tax invoice if you are registered.
- Any sale paid in parts: one bill or invoice, and a receipt for every payment.
Make any of them now
The free cash memo maker, bill maker and invoice generator fill a PDF online, and the formats come in Word and Excel. In the InvoiceMate app a sale becomes a bill, each payment against it is a receipt, and the balance updates on its own; all of them go to the customer on WhatsApp.
Questions
Is a cash memo the same as a bill?
A cash memo is a bill for goods paid on the spot. A bill can also be unpaid, which is why it shows received and balance lines.
Is a bill the same as an invoice?
An invoice is a formal bill: numbered, dated, with the customer's registered name and the tax shown. Every invoice is a bill; not every bill is an invoice.
Does a receipt list the items?
No. A receipt records the money received, the date, the means of payment and the bill it pays. The items are on the bill or invoice.
Can one paper be both the invoice and the receipt?
If the customer pays in full on the spot, a bill marked "Paid" with the amount and date works as both. For part payments give separate receipts.
Which one is needed for sales tax?
A sales tax invoice with NTN, STRN, the value, the tax rate and the tax amount. See the sales tax invoice guide; check the rules that apply to you with FBR or your adviser.