Payment voucher format

A payment voucher is the record a business makes when money leaves it. The office pays the electrician, the petty cash box covers a courier, a cheque goes to a supplier, and each time someone writes up what was paid, to whom, why, and who allowed it. That sheet is the voucher. It is what your accountant reaches for when a bank statement shows a debit nobody can explain.

Payment voucher vs receipt

They are mirror images. A receipt is issued by the person who receives the money, to the person who paid. A payment voucher is prepared by the business that pays, for its own books. Money flows out on a voucher and in on a receipt.

• Payment voucher: prepared by the payer, kept by the payer, records money going out
• Receipt: issued by the payee, given to the payer, confirms money coming in
• Invoice: issued by the seller before payment, asks for money

In practice the two often meet. When you pay a supplier, you prepare a voucher and staple their invoice or receipt behind it. When you pay someone who cannot give you a receipt, such as a daily-wage labourer, the voucher with their signature under Received by becomes the only proof the payment happened.

What goes on a payment voucher

• The words Payment Voucher, and a voucher number in an unbroken sequence
• The date of payment
• Your business name (the From party)
• Paid to: the name of the person or company receiving the money
• What the payment was for, one line per item, with enough detail to recognise it a year later
• The total, in figures and in words
• Payment method: cash, cheque or bank transfer
• The cheque number or transaction reference, if there is one
• Approved by: the person who authorised the payment
• Received by: the signature of the person who collected the money

The amount in words matters more on a voucher than almost anywhere else. Vouchers are often handwritten or printed and signed in a hurry, and a figure of 46,000 is easy to alter to 96,000. Forty-six thousand rupees only is not.

Approvals and supporting documents

A voucher is a control as much as a record: the person who pays should not be the only one who decides to pay. Even in a small business, a simple rule works: someone other than the cashier signs Approved by before money goes out, and the voucher number is written on every supporting paper attached to it.

1. Collect the supporting document: the supplier's bill, a quotation, a fuel slip, a signed attendance sheet for wages
2. Prepare the voucher with the voucher number, payee, purpose and amount
3. Get it approved by whoever holds that authority in your business
4. Make the payment and fill in the method and reference
5. Have the payee sign Received by, then file the voucher with its attachments in number order

A voucher with no supporting document is not wrong, but it should say why, for example Tea and refreshments for site staff, no bill available. An auditor will ask, and a reason written at the time is worth far more than one remembered later.

Cash, cheque or bank transfer

The method decides what goes in the reference field. For a cheque, write the cheque number and the bank. For a bank transfer, write the transaction ID or IBFT reference, which ties the voucher to the line on your statement. Cash leaves no bank trail, so the Received by signature is your only evidence; if the payee cannot sign, take a thumb impression and write their name beside it.

If your business pays large amounts in cash, ask your tax adviser how those payments are treated for tax. Rules like this can change with each budget, so do not rely on a figure someone quoted a few years ago.

A worked example

Keeping vouchers in order

Number vouchers in one sequence for the whole business, or one sequence per cash book if you keep petty cash separately, and never reuse or skip a number. If a voucher is spoiled, mark it Cancelled and keep it. A gap in the sequence is the first thing an auditor looks for.

Invoicora writes the amount in words in English, Arabic or Indonesian and keeps the payment method, reference, approver and receiver as separate fields. Add your logo, signature and stamp, then download the voucher as PDF, Word or Excel, or print it for signing.

Everything stays in your browser on your own device. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed, so your payment records stay yours.