How to write a receipt voucher properly
A receipt voucher proves money was received: from whom, how much, by what means, and for what. Miss any of those four and the voucher proves nothing in a dispute.
Choose the voucher type
A receipt voucher for money in, or a payment voucher for money out. The field labels and signature captions flip automatically, so the voucher cannot end up evidencing the opposite transaction.
Enter the amount and how it was paid
The amount is written out in Arabic words beneath the figure as you type. Choosing “cheque” reveals the cheque number, bank and date — a cheque voucher without a cheque number proves nothing, and it is the commonest omission in circulating templates.
Say what the payment is for
The “being payment for” line is the most important free-text field on the voucher: a month’s rent, a first instalment, settlement of an invoice. For a part payment, enter the invoice total and the balance is worked out for you.
Print two copies
Two vouchers print on one sheet with a cut line between them — one for the payer, one for the file. That is how voucher books are actually used.
When a receipt voucher is the right document
A receipt voucher is an accounting record evidencing receipt of money, not a tax document. It is the correct document when you are not registered for VAT at all; when the payment is for an exempt supply such as residential rent; when you are collecting against an invoice already issued; or when the cash movement is not a supply — a loan, a refundable deposit, petty cash.
Residential rent receipts are probably the single largest legitimate use of a receipt voucher in Saudi Arabia, because the lease of residential property is exempt from VAT, so no tax invoice arises in the first place.
And when it is not enough
If you are VAT-registered and you take money for a taxable supply, a simplified tax invoice is required and a receipt voucher does not discharge that obligation. That includes advance payments taken before the supply is made.
ZATCA answered this exact question in its own e-invoicing FAQ: receiving an advance payment should result in the issuance of an electronic invoice and not only a receipt voucher. So the tool warns you the moment you mark a payment as an advance, and points you at the invoice generator rather than quietly producing a document that will not do the job.
Why this voucher carries no QR code and no VAT number
The tax QR code is an artefact of a tax invoice — it encodes the seller’s name and VAT number, the total and the VAT. Putting one on a receipt voucher makes a non-tax document look like a tax document. ZATCA also runs a public verification service that scans that QR, so a decorative one on a voucher is detectable by any customer or inspector with a phone.
For the same reason the tool prints no VAT number on the voucher. A tax number printed next to an amount is what makes a document read as a tax invoice, and issuing something that reads as a tax invoice while unregistered carries a fine of up to SAR 100,000. It is also why the field is labelled “voucher no.”, never “invoice no.”.
The amount in Arabic words
Writing the amount out is not decoration: it is the version that stands if the figure and the words disagree. Most free generators either leave the line blank or print English words inside a right-to-left document.
This one follows the actual grammar. Numbers 3 to 10 take the opposite gender to the thing counted, so it is ثلاثة ريالات but ثلاث هللات. Numbers 11 to 99 take a singular accusative, so خمسون ريالاً. A round hundred or thousand takes the singular — ألف ريال, never ألف ريالات.
- The Saudi riyal divides into 100 halalas
- The UAE dirham into 100 fils
- The Qatari riyal into 100 dirhams — not halalas
- The Omani rial into 1000 baisa
- The Kuwaiti and Bahraini dinar into 1000 fils
- The Egyptian pound into 100 piastres
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a receipt voucher and a payment voucher?
A receipt voucher records money the business received; a payment voucher records money it paid out. The tool produces both, flipping the field labels and signature captions to match.
Is a receipt voucher a tax document?
No. The e-invoicing perimeter covers invoices and credit and debit notes, and a receipt voucher is none of those. But it may not remove an invoicing obligation — receiving the consideration can itself require an invoice to be issued.
Does a receipt voucher need a stamp?
The tool leaves an empty circle for a stamp to be applied by hand after printing. It does not print a stamp, because a pre-printed one is more useful to a forger than to you.
Can I issue a voucher for a part payment?
Yes. Enter the invoice total and the voucher prints a small table showing the invoice total, the amount paid now and the balance remaining. Leave it blank and the table is not printed at all.
Is my data stored anywhere?
The draft is saved in your own browser and sent nowhere. You can wipe it at any time with the “clear saved data” button.
This content is technical guidance and does not replace accounting or legal advice.