Receipts and invoices in the US
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Hi everyone, Just out of curiosity, what data has to be included by the seller on an invoice, or on a receipt in the US? I'm just askin this because GoDaddy only includes their name "GoDaddy.com, Inc." and a receipt number on their credit card receipts, and here in Slovakia, our accountant needs at least the seller's name and complete address and eventually a phone number on a receipt. Rado PS: I apologize for the empty post a little while ago, but I somehow submitted it by pressing some strange key combination on my keyboard. :-O
Radoslav Bielik http://www.neomyz.com/poll [^] - Get your own web poll
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Hi everyone, Just out of curiosity, what data has to be included by the seller on an invoice, or on a receipt in the US? I'm just askin this because GoDaddy only includes their name "GoDaddy.com, Inc." and a receipt number on their credit card receipts, and here in Slovakia, our accountant needs at least the seller's name and complete address and eventually a phone number on a receipt. Rado PS: I apologize for the empty post a little while ago, but I somehow submitted it by pressing some strange key combination on my keyboard. :-O
Radoslav Bielik http://www.neomyz.com/poll [^] - Get your own web poll
Well, I started my own computer service business two years ago so this is one of the many questions I asked. My accountant told me that all I need on an invoice is the date and an arbitrary number to differentiate between multiple invoices on the same day. Though, I include the Company Name, Address, Phone Number, Website, and even my EIN number (federal tax id--so my clients can submit sub contractor forms to the IRS) Most of my clients are Doctors and Engineers, so they all submit sub contractor, 1099, forms to the IRS. Therefore they need the EIN number. But I haven't seen a law requiring anything where I am. We just need to be able to keep track of the invoices.
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Well, I started my own computer service business two years ago so this is one of the many questions I asked. My accountant told me that all I need on an invoice is the date and an arbitrary number to differentiate between multiple invoices on the same day. Though, I include the Company Name, Address, Phone Number, Website, and even my EIN number (federal tax id--so my clients can submit sub contractor forms to the IRS) Most of my clients are Doctors and Engineers, so they all submit sub contractor, 1099, forms to the IRS. Therefore they need the EIN number. But I haven't seen a law requiring anything where I am. We just need to be able to keep track of the invoices.
Thanks for your response. Here I think we need to include the company name and address, 3 different dates (invoice date, taxable date, due date), invoice number, company identification number, tax ID + also the EU VAT ID if applicable. That's why I was curious about the legal requirements. Rado
Radoslav Bielik http://www.neomyz.com/poll [^] - Get your own web poll
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Hi everyone, Just out of curiosity, what data has to be included by the seller on an invoice, or on a receipt in the US? I'm just askin this because GoDaddy only includes their name "GoDaddy.com, Inc." and a receipt number on their credit card receipts, and here in Slovakia, our accountant needs at least the seller's name and complete address and eventually a phone number on a receipt. Rado PS: I apologize for the empty post a little while ago, but I somehow submitted it by pressing some strange key combination on my keyboard. :-O
Radoslav Bielik http://www.neomyz.com/poll [^] - Get your own web poll
This isn't a US issue. It's a Web issue. In other words, most US companies will give you all the information you request when you walk into a "brick & mortar" or do business over the phone where you're talking to a real, live person. However, doing businss over the Web is an entirely different beast where most companies big and small (at least in my experience), give you very little information that you would expect to get from a company. I would call godaddy directly - they are very good about providing phone support - and ask them for the information you need.
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Hi everyone, Just out of curiosity, what data has to be included by the seller on an invoice, or on a receipt in the US? I'm just askin this because GoDaddy only includes their name "GoDaddy.com, Inc." and a receipt number on their credit card receipts, and here in Slovakia, our accountant needs at least the seller's name and complete address and eventually a phone number on a receipt. Rado PS: I apologize for the empty post a little while ago, but I somehow submitted it by pressing some strange key combination on my keyboard. :-O
Radoslav Bielik http://www.neomyz.com/poll [^] - Get your own web poll
There's a little confusion about terminology out there - what your credit card company sends you is a statement, not an invoice. The difference is that an invoice (or receipt) is a detailed description of the transaction with a number assigned to it, while a statement is a list of invoices with totals. In a "real" business, each transaction results in an invoice that the customer walks out of the store with. The invoice contains all the details about the transaction, along with store information. If it's a charge account, a statement listing all the monthly invoices is mailed to the customer for payment. Most online businesses ask the buyer to print a copy of the transaction before leaving the website - this is the equivalent of an invoice, and in most cases includes information about the company along with transaction details. In either case, the proper procedure is to save all the individual invoices, reconcile them with the statement when it arrives, pay the statement (hopefully in time to take any discounts offerred), and allocate the costs to expense categories based on the information in the individual invoices. If any information is lost, most companies will gladly provide you with details if you request them in a reasonable time. GoDaddy has a good rep - contact them.:-D "...putting all your eggs in one basket along with your bowling ball and gym clothes only gets you scrambled eggs and an extra laundry day... " - Jeffry J. Brickley
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There's a little confusion about terminology out there - what your credit card company sends you is a statement, not an invoice. The difference is that an invoice (or receipt) is a detailed description of the transaction with a number assigned to it, while a statement is a list of invoices with totals. In a "real" business, each transaction results in an invoice that the customer walks out of the store with. The invoice contains all the details about the transaction, along with store information. If it's a charge account, a statement listing all the monthly invoices is mailed to the customer for payment. Most online businesses ask the buyer to print a copy of the transaction before leaving the website - this is the equivalent of an invoice, and in most cases includes information about the company along with transaction details. In either case, the proper procedure is to save all the individual invoices, reconcile them with the statement when it arrives, pay the statement (hopefully in time to take any discounts offerred), and allocate the costs to expense categories based on the information in the individual invoices. If any information is lost, most companies will gladly provide you with details if you request them in a reasonable time. GoDaddy has a good rep - contact them.:-D "...putting all your eggs in one basket along with your bowling ball and gym clothes only gets you scrambled eggs and an extra laundry day... " - Jeffry J. Brickley
There is still some confusion Roger; an invoice and a receipt are not the same thing, although both are often represented on one document. An invoice is only a notification of debt, and a receipt an indication of payment. Gene Roddenberry was a legendary pioneer of thought-provoking, futuristic science fiction. George Lucas created Jar Jar Binks.
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There is still some confusion Roger; an invoice and a receipt are not the same thing, although both are often represented on one document. An invoice is only a notification of debt, and a receipt an indication of payment. Gene Roddenberry was a legendary pioneer of thought-provoking, futuristic science fiction. George Lucas created Jar Jar Binks.
True, but I am considering the case where they are the same, the usual case in online transactions. They are distinctly different documents, though, with very different purposes. Good point!:-D "...putting all your eggs in one basket along with your bowling ball and gym clothes only gets you scrambled eggs and an extra laundry day... " - Jeffry J. Brickley
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This isn't a US issue. It's a Web issue. In other words, most US companies will give you all the information you request when you walk into a "brick & mortar" or do business over the phone where you're talking to a real, live person. However, doing businss over the Web is an entirely different beast where most companies big and small (at least in my experience), give you very little information that you would expect to get from a company. I would call godaddy directly - they are very good about providing phone support - and ask them for the information you need.
I guess you're right. I talked to them but they say that their automated system cannot provide any other type of receipt or an invoice, but they provided all other information so I'll manually add this to the receipts for our accountant. Rado
Radoslav Bielik http://www.neomyz.com/poll [^] - Get your own web poll
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There's a little confusion about terminology out there - what your credit card company sends you is a statement, not an invoice. The difference is that an invoice (or receipt) is a detailed description of the transaction with a number assigned to it, while a statement is a list of invoices with totals. In a "real" business, each transaction results in an invoice that the customer walks out of the store with. The invoice contains all the details about the transaction, along with store information. If it's a charge account, a statement listing all the monthly invoices is mailed to the customer for payment. Most online businesses ask the buyer to print a copy of the transaction before leaving the website - this is the equivalent of an invoice, and in most cases includes information about the company along with transaction details. In either case, the proper procedure is to save all the individual invoices, reconcile them with the statement when it arrives, pay the statement (hopefully in time to take any discounts offerred), and allocate the costs to expense categories based on the information in the individual invoices. If any information is lost, most companies will gladly provide you with details if you request them in a reasonable time. GoDaddy has a good rep - contact them.:-D "...putting all your eggs in one basket along with your bowling ball and gym clothes only gets you scrambled eggs and an extra laundry day... " - Jeffry J. Brickley
Um. Actually you dno't typically walk out of a store with an invoice. You walk out with a receipt as invoices are generally only used in wholesale and not retail scenarios. Yes, I know you know this as you probably have as much distro experience as I do, but I like busting your chops ;-P
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Um. Actually you dno't typically walk out of a store with an invoice. You walk out with a receipt as invoices are generally only used in wholesale and not retail scenarios. Yes, I know you know this as you probably have as much distro experience as I do, but I like busting your chops ;-P
Tom Archer wrote: I like busting your chops Any time, Tom.:-D Actually, my main experience in retail involved giving customers the invoice for each visit. Most of our contractor customers maintained 30-day or revolving credit accounts, so on each purchase we'd have them sign the invoice and keep a copy of it as their receipt. At month end we'd print a statement and mail it, along with our file copies of the invoices it summarized. There's always more than one way to do a thing, isn't there?:) "...putting all your eggs in one basket along with your bowling ball and gym clothes only gets you scrambled eggs and an extra laundry day... " - Jeffry J. Brickley