Invoices and Sales Receipts are not quite the same thing in QuickBooks. Although they both record sales information, that is where their similarity ends. Here is a breakdown of what each does.

Invoices

With Invoices you have more flexibility than with Sales Receipts:

• Estimates or Sales Orders are easily converted to Invoices with a click of the mouse
• With Invoices, all customer sales information is recorded in the Customer:Job list
• Customers may owe the business money when Invoices are used
• Customer payment information is entered as a separate step on a separate screen

Sales Receipts

Sales Receipts are a little more rigid, but are certainly appropriate in many circumstances:

• Although you may use Estimates and Sales Orders, they cannot be electronically converted to Sales Receipts
• With Sales Receipts, customers may not owe the business any money
• Sales information is not tracked in the Customer:Job list when Sales Receipts are used
• Customers' payment information is entered into the Sales Receipt screen, at the time the sale is recorded

Which to Use

Use Invoices if you need to use Estimates or Sales Orders, or you want to allow your customers to pay at a later date than the date of the sale.

Use Sales Receipts if you don't need to track customer sales information, and if you always receive the customer's payment at the time of the sale.

Jennifer Thieme

Jennifer Thieme is self-employed in the accounting field, having served small businesses for over nine years.

She?s very interested in esoteric ideas and has studied them under the same teacher since 1985. Married since 1988, she home schooled her three beautiful children for ten years. Writing is one of her hobbies.

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