Receipt Template for South African Venues and Caterers

What section 26 of the Consumer Protection Act expects

Section 26 of the Consumer Protection Act requires a supplier to give the consumer a written record of each transaction. The record must identify you, including your registered business name and VAT number if you have one, the address the goods or services were supplied from, the date, a description of what was supplied, the unit price and quantity, and the total with any taxes.

For a function venue, the quotation and the final invoice cover most of that. The receipt fills the gaps in between: the R20,000 deposit paid in March, the second instalment in July, the balance the week before the wedding. Each payment deserves its own numbered receipt that points back to the booking and the invoice.

Corporate clients are not always consumers under the Act, but they will still ask for a receipt for their own audit. Use one template for both.

Payment schedule for a 21st birthday

Saturday 21st birthday party for 60 guests at a Durban function venue, paid in three EFT instalments

• Receipt issued only once each EFT clears.
• Deposit receipts numbered separately from balance receipts.
• Balance due seven days before the party.

Proof of payment is not a receipt

Clients often assume their bank's payment notification settles the matter. It shows they instructed a transfer. It does not show the money cleared, and inter-bank EFTs can take a day or more. Issue your receipt when the funds show in your account, and put the bank reference on it.

Watch for fake proof-of-payment documents. They are a known scam aimed at small businesses, especially for bookings made by someone you have never met. Check your own bank statement before confirming a date as paid, and never release a hold on a peak-season Saturday on the strength of a PDF alone.

Deposit receipts versus balance receipts

A deposit secures the date. Under section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act you may ask for a reasonable deposit, and a client who cancels may be charged a reasonable cancellation fee, but nothing at all if the booking is cancelled because the person it was for has died or been hospitalised. Your deposit receipt should say which terms the deposit falls under, by pointing to the signed quotation.

For VAT, SARS does not treat a deposit as payment for the supply until you apply it as consideration. Keep deposit receipts on their own numbered series so your accountant can see which amounts are still held as deposits and which have been applied to invoices.

Balance receipts are simpler. They reference the tax invoice number, show the amount received, and state the amount still outstanding, which should be zero once the final payment clears.

• Receipt number, from a separate series for deposits
• Booking or quotation reference and event date
• Amount received, payment method and bank reference
• What the payment is for: deposit, instalment or balance
• Running balance still due
• Your business name, address and VAT number if registered

What your receipt must show in South Africa

Refunds and forfeited deposits

When a booking is cancelled, three things happen on paper. You work out the cancellation fee under your written scale. You refund the rest, with a refund note that shows the calculation. And if any part of the deposit had already been applied to a tax invoice, a credit note reverses the VAT on it.

The National Consumer Commission's guidance lists the factors that decide whether a fee is reasonable: the kind of service booked, the notice given, whether you could realistically rebook the date, and normal industry practice. Keep evidence of the enquiries you received for a cancelled date. If you did resell it, it becomes very hard to justify keeping the full deposit.

Can a receipt double as a tax invoice?

Sometimes. If a document meets all the SARS criteria for a tax invoice, it is a tax invoice whatever else you call it. For amounts between R50 and R5,000, a receipt that shows the words Tax Invoice, your details and VAT number, a serial number and date, a description, and the value, VAT and total also meets the abridged format.

For function bookings it is cleaner to keep them apart. The tax invoice records the supply. The receipts record the payments. Mixing the two produces documents that claim VAT twice, once on the deposit receipt and again on the final invoice.

Keep receipts with the rest of your records for five years from the end of the tax period, the retention period SARS applies to VAT vendors.

Cash, cards and split payments at the event

Not every payment arrives by EFT. Families sometimes settle the bar tab in cash at the end of the night, or split the balance across two cards. Each of those is a separate payment and gets its own receipt line, with the method recorded, so the cash-up the next morning matches the booking.

Cash deserves extra care. Count it in front of the client, write the receipt on the spot, and bank it quickly. A receipt book with carbon copies still works if the tablet is flat, as long as the numbers are entered into your system the next day.

When relatives pay part of a wedding balance on the couple's behalf, name the payer on the receipt but keep it under the couple's booking. Refunds then go back to whoever actually paid, which is where most family disputes about money start.

Receipts that follow the booking

In Venura each payment is recorded against the booking, so the receipt carries the booking reference, the running balance updates itself, and deposits and balances are kept apart. Receipts can be shared with the client on WhatsApp or email as soon as you record the payment. You set the currency to rand and VAT per line. South African pricing is quoted individually.

Receipt questions from South Africa