Glossary
What is the difference between an invoice and a receipt?
By Tim White · Last updated
An invoice is a request for payment: it lists what is owed and when it is due. A receipt is proof of payment: it confirms money changed hands. The invoice comes first and asks; the receipt comes after and confirms.
What each document is for
You send or receive an invoice to say a payment is due. Once it is paid, a receipt records that it happened, which is what you keep for your books and, often, for taxes.
Where the confusion comes from
A single PDF sometimes does both jobs, an invoice stamped 'paid' doubles as a receipt. That is fine, but for clean books you still want to know which state each document is in: owed, or settled.
InvoiceJet extracts invoice fields (vendor, amount, dates, line items) with a confidence level on each, and tracks whether an invoice is marked paid, so the owed-versus-settled question has a clear answer without digging through email.
Commonly confused with a statement
Two neighbors get mixed in here. A statement is not an invoice. It is a periodic summary of everything outstanding on an account, so paying a statement line by line risks paying invoices you already settled. A quote is not an invoice either, since it only estimates a future cost and creates no obligation. The invoice is the one document that says a specific amount is due now.
Common questions
Can I use InvoiceJet for receipts too?
InvoiceJet is built for invoices, the documents that request payment. A receipt confirming a payment you already made is a different record and is not what the extraction pipeline is tuned for.
Is a receipt proof of purchase for taxes?
Often yes. A receipt shows a payment actually happened, which is what tax authorities and expense policies usually want as proof, whereas an invoice on its own only shows an amount was billed.
Do I need both an invoice and a receipt?
For a clean record, yes. The invoice documents what was owed and its terms; the receipt documents that it was paid. Keeping both lets you show the obligation and its settlement.
Sources
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