What Is a Fee Receipt?

A fee receipt is an official receipt used to conclude a transaction, specifically when an individual or organization deposits a fee for a specific service to a receiving party. And these fees are usually associated with education wherein students enroll in a class. In fact, there are over 130,930 K–12 schools in America. That is, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) 2018 data. Thanks to these receipts, there is clear proof that payment or transaction was made in exchange for services.

According to Statista, around 19.6 million college students were enrolled in America last 2018.

The Value of Education reported that the US is one of the leading yet most expensive options in considering a university abroad; students paid an average of $99,417 for their chosen degree or course.

Based on a survey, the US has over 130,930 K–12 schools as of 2018.

Why Do You Need Fee Receipts?

Just like any business receipt, a fee receipt is needed for evidence. The document will lay out the details of the transaction date, payment amount, and more information. So if ever the payee and the payer have questions related to fees and transactions, they can simply refer to the receipt as reference. Also, fee receipts are needed for accounting and recordkeeping purposes. Payment may be audited for some time, or perhaps, the fee receipt might be used as a tool for dispute.

Indeed, fee receipts play a great role in educational matters. Take college for example. Statista’s research survey confirmed that about 19.6 million college students enrolled in the US last 2018. Nonetheless, America is still one of the leading yet most expensive choices to consider for a university abroad. Based on records, students paid an average of $99,417 for their degree. Parents and students who paid for a college admission would want to know if their money was spent as intended, and fee receipts can prove that. Most importantly, fee receipts are not limited to education. There are other special services to pay for like shipping fees, travel fees, environmental fees, etc.

What Are the Parts of a Fee Receipt?

You already know that helpful details are inside fee receipts. But what exactly are they? Bear in mind that what a fee receipt contains may differ from one business to another. However, common elements can be found in most receipts. So in this segment, we will guide you in familiarizing the basic parts of a standard fee receipt.

Title: It is a no-brainer that documents become disorganized without proper labels. So be sure the document you plan on making as a fee receipt is labeled with its appropriate title. Using ‘Fee Receipt’ as a title is good enough. But make sure to keep the title evident by using bold and capital letters. Thus, the title won’t be hard to miss.Fee Payer’s Details: While the title serves as an introductory statement of what a document’s purpose is, the next step is to recognize the payer. The payer will be identified through his or her complete legal name, address, and other contact details. The problem with not inputting the payer’s information is that a receipt could belong to anybody. So be sure correct spelling and information are recorded.Fee Receiver’s Details: Not only the payer should be stated in the receipt but also the payee or receiver. Same with before, you jot down the complete name, address, or contact information. The recipient may be an individual but it could also be an organization like an educational institution.Transaction Date: When did the actual payment or transaction take place? Expect to write the full transaction date in the fee receipt as well. You can note the day, month, and year. Or perhaps, include the specific time to make it easy in tracking transactions and receipts soon.Serial Number: Every fee receipt should have its official serial number. This number refers to the unique identification number of the receipt. So lest you trace a transaction, tracking becomes easier when you just encode the identification number to a device and locate the receipt based on the number.Amount of Payment: One of the vital components in a fee receipt is how much the payment amount is. Write down how much was paid by the payer in words and in numbers. And if the payment comes in monthly terms, then be sure to mention the due date and full breakdown of payments. You will eventually note how much the total cost is including the remaining balance if there is.Mode of Payment: Yes, a payment has been done. But you also have to jot down the mode of payment. Whether the payment was done in cash receipt, credit, bank transfer, cheque, or any other way, specify it. That detail is important to answer how the payment was managed.Product or Service Description: Sometimes, it is crucial to state what was being paid for in the first place. Describe what was paid for in the product or service description label. Be sure the correct information is recorded because maybe you assumed that a student paid for tuition but the reality is it was only for extracurricular activity purposes.Signatures: Finally, end the receipt with a signature line. There should be blanks provided with enough space for both the payer and the payee to affix their signatures. And those signatures serve as the official closing statement that the details inside the receipt are correct.

How to Make a Proper Fee Receipt

Clearly, fee receipts bring a sense of acknowledgment if payments and transactions did happen. More so, this receipt can be a written agreement between the payers and the payees. But something you should know very well is how to create a fee receipt. Since such receipts are important, you should learn how to come up with a proper fee receipt. And you can do so by following these steps:

Step 1: Save Your Effort with Sample Templates

Making receipts from scratch is very time-consuming. Luckily, premade sample fee receipt templates are up for grabs, as seen above. Check out our different samples until you can select a template to work with. Using printable and downloadable templates, you can produce fee receipts anytime. To boot, you can create as many copies as you want. What is even better? You may freely customize any detail, format, or design from each template. A tip is to go for receipt forms with carbon copies because once you write on a receipt and send it to a payer, you get to keep the carbon copy.

Step 2: Ensure to Complete the Fee Receipt’s Elements

From the title down to the signatures, be sure all the necessary elements of your fee receipt are added. You already know the different sections as discussed earlier anyway. But the catch now is to arrange them accordingly. For example, you can create tables to divide every label from the amount paid, balance, mode of payment, and so forth. Categorizing the elements into charts is another approach. The problem with just blindly inserting every element is how you could have jumbled details or a hodgepodge of information. And that is something to avoid.

Step 3: Incorporate Company Branding

Part of designing the fee receipt is to include your company’s brand strategy. Branding means you include your organization’s logo, contact information, signature colors, and the like. That way, your fee receipt will not just be regarded as any other general receipt. Your fee receipt is now personalized. What makes a personalized receipt beneficial is how it also boosts your organization’s marketing factor. As more people get to see the branding from your receipts, more people would know about your company.

Step 4: Print or Write Receipts in Dark Ink

Ensure that the fee receipt copies you produce are legible enough. And the key is to print with dark ink. It is bad to make copies that are hard to read because those might create confusion. Dark ink is also needed when you write information into the receipt. Thus, the handwritten documents’ ink will not easily fade over time. Fee receipts are supposed to work as permanent records so illegible and incorrect details inside are a big no-no. Fraudulent actions might happen if the ink fades, like when someone overwrites false information in a receipt.

Step 5: Keep It Short and Simple

You have to keep in mind that receipts are not bulky documents. They don’t even have to be as big as a long bond paper. These are small documents so you should only write short and simple sentences. Focus on using words that are easily understood by the public so it will be user-friendly. In fact, you need not write complete sentences because you can just enumerate or answer each element in the form directly. And once you are glad about the outcome, produce those copies now!

FAQs

Are receipts and invoices the same?

No, receipts and sample invoices are different. And how different they are is based on timing. With invoice, it is only issued when goods and services have been rendered but there is no payment yet. Meanwhile, the receipt is issued when the payment is already done.

What are some examples of receipts?

Besides fee receipts, there are more types and examples of receipts out there. And here are a few examples:

How long should I keep fee receipts?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) amends individuals to keep any receipt for three years minimum. You never know when you might need your receipts for reference lists within those few years. So better yet, keep them in a safe place to be prepared.

Who can qualify as recipients of fee receipts?

Anyone can be a recipient of a fee receipt if payers paid them in return for services. Besides an individual, it can be a group or organization too like universities, workshops, and businesses. But, they should be identified for compliance.

Never ever finish a transaction without any proof; this rule applies to both the payee and the payer. If you become too complacent that nothing goes wrong after processing payments, then how would you deal with errors? And what about if you can’t remember some transaction details? Hence, save your receipts for a few years before keeping them in limbo. In fact, our sample fee receipt templates are just a few examples of the many types of receipts out there. Check out the rest of our receipt templates and other samples now!