Receipt generator

Receipt or invoice?

They get used interchangeably and they are different documents with different jobs. An invoice is a request: here is what you owe, here is when it is due, here is how to pay. A receipt is a record: this was paid, on this date, by this method.

The practical test is whether money has moved. If it has not, you want an invoice. If it has, you want this — and if you issue an invoice and get paid, issuing both is entirely normal.

Why each line is rounded before the lines are added

This looks like a technicality and is the difference between a receipt somebody accepts and one they query.

Take three items at £0.335 each. Sum them exactly and you get £1.005, which rounds to £1.01. But each line prints as £0.34, and three lots of £0.34 is £1.02. The document shows a column that does not add up to its own total, and no explanation of rounding conventions makes that look right.

So every line is rounded to the penny first and the rounded values are summed. The total always equals what is printed above it, because it is calculated from what is printed above it.

The 80mm option

Thermal receipt printers use an 80mm roll, and a roll has no pages — it is one continuous strip that the printer cuts wherever the document finishes. So choosing 80mm here produces a page exactly that wide and as tall as the content requires, which is what a till printer expects to receive.

For anything emailed, filed or attached to an expense claim, A4 is the right choice and the layout adapts to use the width.

If you are VAT-registered

A VAT receipt has requirements beyond an ordinary one: your VAT number, the rate applied, and the tax shown as a separate amount rather than folded into the total. That last point is why tax is its own line here.

Put your VAT number in the address block so it appears under the business name. The rules vary by country and this is a document generator rather than tax advice — check what your jurisdiction requires before relying on it for a return.

Questions

What is the difference between a receipt and an invoice?

An invoice asks for money; a receipt confirms it arrived. An invoice is issued before payment and carries due dates and payment terms. A receipt is issued after, and its job is to be proof — of what was bought, for how much, and when it was settled. If you are asking to be paid, you want the invoice generator instead.

What has to be on a receipt?

At minimum: who sold it, what was sold, the amount, and the date. If you are VAT-registered and issuing a VAT receipt, you also need your VAT number, the rate applied and the tax shown separately — which is why tax is a separate line here rather than folded into the total.

What is the 80mm option for?

Thermal till rolls, which are 80mm wide. Choosing it produces a page that size, growing as long as the content needs — a roll has no page break, so the printer simply cuts where the document ends. Pick A4 if the receipt is being emailed or filed instead.

Do the numbers round correctly?

Yes, and it is worth explaining why that is a question. Each line is rounded before the lines are summed, rather than summing exact values and rounding once at the end. The second method is defensible arithmetic that produces a receipt whose printed column does not add up to its printed total, which is precisely the sort of thing somebody queries.

Is my data uploaded?

No. The PDF is built in this page. Receipts carry customer names, amounts and business details, and none of it needs to reach a server to become a document.

Why did a character get replaced?

The standard PDF fonts can only encode Latin-1, which covers most European languages and not CJK, Indian scripts or the rupee sign. Rather than fail, those characters are substituted and the substitution is reported to you — so you know why it changed rather than finding out later.

What BriskFile will not do to you

• Your files never leave your device

  Every conversion runs in your browser. Open DevTools, watch the Network tab, and you will see no upload — because there is not one.

• No account, no email, no watermark

  Nothing to sign up for and nothing stamped on your images. There is no step between choosing a file and getting it back.

• No limits at the download button

  No daily cap, no file counter, no "upgrade to download". If the tool starts a job, it finishes it.

• Checkable, not just claimed

  Open the Network tab and convert something — nothing goes out. Or load the page, disconnect, and watch it keep working: the tool is already on your machine, and your file never leaves it.