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Invoices in Japanese

Lothor

Freelance proofreader
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26 Sep 2015
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Got a very simple business question. I might be getting some work from a couple of people which may necessitate an invoice and receipt. I have very little business experience, but I would imagine that if I was doing it in English, I'd write an invoice (everything being online), send it, receive the money by bank transfer, then send a similar document with "invoice" changed to "receipt" and a stamp saying PAID on it. First of all, is that right? I've been an employee all my life so this is all new to me.
I've found a template invoice (請求書)in Japanese. Can I do a similar thing, i.e., complete the details, send it, then once I receive money, change it to a 領収書 and put a virtual stamp on it? If so, what would be the Japanese equivalent of PAID?
The people I'd be doing the work for would be friends of friends that I'm going out for a few beers with soon, and things do not have to be too formal, but I'd like to get it right in case I have to do things on a more formal basis in future.
Thanks.
 
Yes that should be fine. Usually the invoice will have the details of your bank account, and payment conditions. If your business has a business ID number, that is usually also included. For receipts the format can be similar. If the transaction is over a certain amount, you may need a revenue stamp. I just looked online, and I can see there are a lot of "free" templates available. They should all be fine. I just looked in Excel and there are a million types of formats available in Excel (サービス請求書) might be good for you?
And, don't be shy about sending it to your client and asking if it has all the information they need.
 
Thanks very much - I hadn't thought about payment conditions, so that was also useful.
I like the idea of an official looking hanko-like stamp on my online invoice. What would be the Japanese equivalent of PAID?
 
Edit: Oh, well, a much more localized answer was already given so never mind. I'll guess I'll not delete this, uh... just in case? In case of what, I don't know.

I'd write an invoice (everything being online), send it, receive the money by bank transfer, then send a similar document with "invoice" changed to "receipt" and a stamp saying PAID on it. First of all, is that right?
That much is essentially correct, although the language is usually '$X.XX RECEIVED' while 'receipt' is the name of the paper (or electronic document) that information is on.

Your receipts don't have to document everything (or, honestly, anything... the receipt does nothing directly for you, it is given to your customer as proof that they are paid up and as such it is a service to them. Providing good customer service is a good idea, of course, and indirectly builds goodwill... and if you aren't planning on some shady double-billing there's no reason not to give one.) Your invoices on the other hand, are a paper trail of your demands in case there's any trouble with payment.

I haven't done business in Japan, but I don't see why it would be different... aside from being written in Japanese, of course, and being stamped instead of signed (which if it's all digital is probably actually just typing your name anyway in any language).
 
Your receipts don't have to document everything (or, honestly, anything... the receipt does nothing directly for you, it is given to your customer as proof that they are paid up and as such it is a service to them. Providing good customer service is a good idea, of course, and indirectly builds goodwill... and if you aren't planning on some shady double-billing there's no reason not to give one.) Your invoices on the other hand, are a paper trail of your demands in case there's any trouble with payment.
Thanks for the helpful reply - yes, RECEIVED sounds better than PAID.
Yes, the receipt is intended as a service to the customer. At least one of the two people I will hopefully be getting work from is a freelancer, who will probably welcome a receipt for her own tax records.
 
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