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What is the difference between an invoice, sales receipt, bill, and statement?

This article defines an invoice, sales receipt, bill, and statement so you can properly enter these transactions in QuickBooks Online.

 

What is an invoice?

An invoice is for when you want to collect funds from your customers.

  • It is a transaction you create to receive money from your customers.
  • It is a transaction you send to your customers who haven't paid yet when specific work items or goods/services sold are completed or fulfilled.
  • It is an individual sales transaction that can partially comprise a statement of your customer's account.

What is a sales receipt?

A sales receipt is used for goods/services rendered at the time of a purchase (sometimes referred to as a "point of sale" purchase), or if your customers give you immediate payment.

What is a bill?

A bill is used to describe transactions that are owed to suppliers.

  • It is an invoice your suppliers send to collect money from you.
  • It is an invoice that you need to enter as a bill that they expect you, as their customer, to pay.

What is a statement?

A statement is simply the status of the customer's account at a particular point in time.

  • It represents sales transactions, credits, and payments in each line item for a given period. It doesn't offer as much detail as the individual sales transactions.
  • It notifies your customers where they stand and if they still owe you any money. You send it to your customers on a regular basis.

For further information about the types of statements available, see Create and manage statements.

Now you know the difference between an invoice, sales receipt, bill, and statement