Receipt template for deposits, bonds and balances at Australian venues

Receipt, tax invoice or both

A receipt proves money changed hands. A tax invoice lets a GST-registered client claim a credit. They can be the same document if the receipt carries every detail the ATO lists for a tax invoice, but most venues keep them separate: a tax invoice for each stage, then a receipt when it is paid that quotes the invoice number.

If you only issue receipts to private clients, show the GST included in the amount anyway. It costs nothing, and when the father of the bride turns out to be paying through his company, you won't have to reissue anything. The ATO requires a tax invoice within 28 days of a request for sales over A$82.50, so being ready to convert a receipt quickly is worth it.

What each receipt should show

Write receipts so that anyone can match them to one booking and one bank line years later. business.gov.au suggests keeping most business records for at least five years, and receipts are part of that trail.

Use one numbering series for receipts across all your rooms or sites, and never reuse a number. If a receipt goes to the wrong client, cancel it with a note and issue a new one, keeping the cancelled copy. Gaps and duplicates are what an auditor looks for first, and they are hard to explain after a busy season of weddings.

• Receipt number and the date the money arrived
• Your business name and ABN
• Booking reference, event date and venue room
• Payer's name, which may differ from the client
• Amount, payment method and bank or PayID reference
• Purpose: deposit, progress payment, balance, bar tab top-up or bond
• GST included, or a note that a bond is held as security
• Total price, paid to date and balance owing with due date

Receipt R-2026-0406 (balance)

21st birthday party for 60 guests in a function room at a Perth sports club, with a refundable bond

• A$750 bond receipted separately and held as security.
• Balance paid by PayID; reference copied to the receipt.
• Tax invoice TI-2026-1203 covers this balance.

What your receipt must show in Australia

Bonds are held, not earned

Most Australian venues take a refundable bond for 18th and 21st birthdays and for large private parties, often A$500 to A$1,000. Receipt it separately from the function price and say it is held as security. The ATO's ruling on deposits held as security means GST does not apply while you hold it; it applies in the period you forfeit it or apply it to the price.

After the event, send a bond statement within a set number of days. List any deductions, such as extra cleaning or damage, with GST on each, and the amount refunded. A clear statement turns what is often the most argued-over payment into a two-minute email.

Set the refund deadline in your terms, for example 14 days after the function, and meet it. Families remember a slow bond refund longer than they remember the canapés.

When more than one person pays

Weddings and milestone birthdays are often paid for by several people: parents on both sides, the couple, sometimes a grandparent. Each payment needs its own receipt in the payer's name, and each receipt should show the running total paid by everyone, not just that person, so the family can see what is left without asking you.

Agree at booking who is responsible for the balance. If three people are each paying a third, write that down, but keep one person as the contracting client. When a payment is missing a week out, you need one person to call, not three.

For corporate functions split between two cost centres, issue receipts to match the tax invoices: one per company, each quoting its own ABN and PO number. Mixing them on one receipt causes more reconciliation work than it saves.

Bank transfer, PayID and the card surcharge change

Large balances usually arrive by bank transfer, increasingly through PayID, which shows the payer's name. Copy the bank reference onto the receipt. When a transfer arrives short because the client paid the ex-GST amount by mistake, note the shortfall on the receipt and chase it the same day while the booking is fresh in everyone's mind.

If you take cards, note the ACCC's warning: from 1 October 2026 Visa, Mastercard, American Express and eftpos introduce no-surcharge rules on their prepaid, debit and credit cards. Receipts issued after that date should not show a card surcharge for those payments. Hospitality weekend and public holiday surcharges are unaffected, and belong on the invoice and receipt as part of the price.

Cash is less common for functions now, but when a client pays a bar tab top-up in cash on the night, write the receipt there and then. A handwritten receipt number from a pre-numbered book is fine if you enter it into your system the next morning.

Refunds after a cancellation

When a booking is cancelled, issue a cancellation statement that references every receipt for that booking, shows the fee retained under your terms and any refund. The ACCC notes that terms and conditions cannot remove the consumer guarantees, so if the cancellation is because you could not deliver what was promised, a refund may be owed regardless of your cancellation scale.

Where you keep part of a deposit that was a part-payment, GST was already accounted for when you received it, so the retained amount needs no new GST entry. Where you refund part of it, you may need an adjustment. Ask your accountant to confirm the adjustment note format for your system.

Receipt questions from Australia