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Receipting. This is a job that needs to be done right and considered carefully. Mistakes here can lead to increased admin time later, headaches, and even issues with the tax department during audits. So it is understandable that so many people spend all their time and effort in trying to get it right! Which is a shame, because there is a real opportunity for your receipts to be a tool and an asset. But without making sure your receipt is valid and done properly in the first place, all this extra effort can be for naught.
So let’s look now at the core things you need to do first, and then in our next blog we’ll explore how you can take your receipting to the next level!
Receipting Checklist: What needs to be done?
Country Specific Requirements
This is the first thing you need to establish, but how do you find this information out? Google is your friend. Searching “Tax Department Receipting Requirements” will generally get you the answers you are after. Just replace the “Tax Department” with your particular tax department name (eg, in New Zealand, this is “IRD”). If in doubt, giving them a call directly to clarify is a good idea. Rather have that piece of mind going into it, than discovering issues down the track and having to void, update, and reissue receipts. Below are some direct links for a few countries:
Individual’s Details
Have you got the right details for the person you are sending a receipt to? This is important for numerous reasons. If their details are wrong on the receipt and they attempt to claim back tax (in countries that allow this), it may be declined. There is also the relational reason - if someone sees their name spelt wrong on an official document for instance, their sense of being valued by you is affected. Finally, if you yourself have the wrong details, you may not send the receipt to the right email or address; or when they discover their name is wrong and alert you of this, you now have extra admin time - you have to now void a receipt, update details, and reissue. Having a good CRM system for managing this information is critical, and making sure the information is checked and kept up-to-date is just as important.
Receipting Preferences
How are the individuals wanting to be receipted? A married couple for instance may want to receive a single combined receipt, but may give separately. Or perhaps they would like an even split for the receipt. Or, do they just want a personal receipt that covers only their individual givings? Tracking this information, and creating unique receipts for each person can be hard to manage, especially with spreadsheets and notes. Get a system that is designed to handle these situations for you, and understands these unique use-cases.
A Unique Receipt Number
This is a simple one, but critical. Every receipt issued has to have a unique number. This is so that there is zero change of confusion around tax receipts issued, possible duplications, and voiding of improper receipts (voided by the issuer due to some errors usually). Therefore, it is critical that you have a way to manage unique numbers, and that those numbers are present on the receipts themselves.
With these things in order, you can now put together your receipts! If you would like to know how infoodle can help you manage and produce your receipts very quickly and effectively, get in touch with our Sales Team now.
