What goes on a carpentry receipt
Nearly every commission starts with a deposit, and that deposit buys lumber that is useless to anybody else. The receipt is what records it: what the money bought, and the point at which it stopped being refundable.
- The date paid, and the amount
- The commission it relates to, by description
- What the deposit covers: lumber, hardware, shop time
- The point at which it becomes non-refundable — usually when the lumber is cut
- The balance remaining, and when it falls due
- The agreed completion or fitting date
- How it was paid
The sample line items and example prices this sheet opens with are on the carpentry invoice template — the same table, which is about the trade rather than about this paper, so it lives in one place rather than on all six.
What you get
A PDF, and a link your customer can open in any browser. Word and Excel versions are not available yet — if a spreadsheet is what you need, this is not yet the tool for it, and saying so is cheaper for both of us than you finding out after typing everything in.
Pick how it looks
Six looks, from a plain classic sheet through a bold top band to a shop ticket, and your initials go on automatically until you upload a logo. See all six.
How to send it
Most customers want the paper on their phone, so the receipt goes out by WhatsApp, text or email, or as a link that needs no app and no account on their side. Or download the PDF to print it or keep it for your own records.
Questions
When does a deposit stop being refundable?
When you have spent it, which on custom work is the moment the lumber is cut to size. Write that on the receipt in those words. A customer who changes their mind on a commission is far more reasonable about it when they were told in advance where the line was.
Do I receipt the final payment too?
On a commission, yes, and note the completion date with it. A one-off piece has no invoice history behind it, and a receipt recording both the payment and the date the piece was handed over is the only record either of you will keep.