First Person: How to Fill Out a Receipt Book

If your home business provides goods or services paid for by check, cash, or money order, a cash receipt book is an important bookkeeping tool to have. Receipt books are booklets with carbonless duplicates that record cash transactions. The original form is kept by the seller so to track his cash income while the carbon is given to the buyer as proof of payment made.

Since I own and manage several rental properties, I use a cash receipt book as a way to track my rental income. My tenants all pay in cash and a receipt book is how we track the amounts and dates of payments. Additional benefits of having a cash receipt book are as follows

-- Organizes your cash income and rental income history in one easy to find location
-- Tracks when a payment was made, by whom, and on what date
-- Provides a duplicate receipt of the transaction to the renter/buyer to avoid potential problems.

How do you fill out a cash receipt?

Cash receipt books all contain the same basic wording and format. Here is how to prepare a receipt in several easy steps:

Date: In this space, record the date the cash or check was received, NOT the date the payment was due.

Received From: On this line, write the name of the person giving you the check or the cash.

Address: Record the address of the payee on this line. Some receipt books might not label the line for the address; it is up to you to determine how important the address is for your business, and record it if you believe it's necessary.

Dollar amount: On this line, write out the amount of money received. For example, a $500 rent payment should be written out as "five hundred dollars." If there is a second short line that starts with a diollar sign, print the numerical amount here. Using our example, you'd record $500.

For: This line is your place to write down what is being sold or provided. For landlords, here is where we'd write down the address of the property and note that it is for "rent received." If selling a used car or a motor vehicle, write down the make, model, year and VIN number of the vehicle.

Filling in the boxes: This little area requires you to note the way the payment was made. In the case of part cash and part check payments, record the cash portion of the payment in the cash column and the check portion in the check column.

By: Is where you sign your name. For added security, I'll usually have the buyer initial the receipt as well to avoid any misunderstandings.

After the cash receipt has been filled out, tear off the yellow duplicate and hand to the customer. The yellow copy is his proof that the transaction was completed and money exchanged hands. File your copy in a safe place since it is your receipt too that a transaction occurred.

Cash receipt books are available at all office supply stores and come either in journal format with one receipt to a page, or in book form with three or four receipts to a page. Prices vary but seem to range between $6 to $24 depending on style and quantity. If all that's needed is a single receipt, you can visit a place like printablecashreceipts.com to print your own receipt at no charge.

More by this contributor:
Where to find customers for your new business.
How to start a no frills house cleaning business.
Rental home income and deductions to track