Meaning & use
sales invoice
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablebusiness
A document a seller gives a customer that lists what was sold, the prices and the amount owed.
Grammar: Countable: raise a sales invoice, file two sales invoices.
Patterns
- issue a sales invoice
- send a sales invoice to someone
The accountant checked every sales invoice before the end of the month.
We email a sales invoice to the client as soon as the goods ship.
The sales invoice shows a payment deadline of thirty days.
Word forms
| plural | sales invoices |
|---|
Common combinations
- issue a sales invoice
- Please issue a sales invoice for the repair work.
- pay a sales invoice
- The customer must pay the sales invoice within two weeks.
- sales invoice number
- Quote the sales invoice number when you contact us.
- copy of the sales invoice
- Keep a copy of the sales invoice for your records.
- cancel a sales invoice
- The clerk had to cancel a sales invoice with the wrong price.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bill
- Bill is everyday language for any request for payment, while sales invoice is the formal business document.
- receipt
- A receipt confirms that payment was made, whereas a sales invoice asks for payment to be made.
- statement
- A statement summarizes many transactions, but a sales invoice covers a single sale.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sales invoice or receipt?
sales invoice vs receipt
A receipt is proof you have paid, but an invoice is the request to pay.
Practice
The company sent the client a sales invoice. What does the client now need to do?
Choose one answer.
A sales invoice asks the buyer to pay for what was supplied. Returning goods or signing a contract are not what an invoice demands.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sales invoice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.