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These specific services can clarify the details of the services provided in the invoice and offer payments in installments for ongoing contracts. Most businesses handle around 500 invoices monthly, both issuing to customers and paying the suppliers. Maintaining an organized invoicing management ensures business efficiency and on-time payments. An invoice is a legal accounting document issued by a vendor to their customer, outlining the products and/or services provided to them by the vendor.

For simple administration and correspondence purposes, invoices and bills are used to keep everyone organized. When determining what the difference is between a bill and an invoice, like the trash vs. treasure metaphor, it depends bills and invoices on your perspective. If you print the bill and mail it, your customer will receive a sealed document. Even if you email it, there is a sense of the bill being a sealed document as long as that mail account is protected.

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This means that recurring invoices are better for collecting payment for ongoing services. Conversely, a bill will usually only include the total amount due and a limited description of the goods and services rendered. A bill won’t contain contact details or details about each transaction, nor will a bill contain information about payment terms, since payment is typically expected to be submitted immediately.

Generate and send invoices easily to your customers with Bookipi Invoice. The timeline by which the client is expected to pay also makes a bill different from an invoice. Another key difference between an invoice and a bill is how detailed the information provided on each document is. As both documents are used to collect a payment, an invoice is often confused with a bill and vice versa.

Different uses of bills and invoices in business

However, your bills and invoices won’t be considered legally binding. Now that you understand the difference between these two terms, let’s add a third. A receipt is a document issued by a business after a sale has taken place, and the customer has paid the bill/invoice.