Invoice vs Statement

What is an invoice?

An invoice is a document submitted from a business to a customer or buyer. It provides the details of a transaction, outlining the goods and services provided and how much payment is owed. 

At the bottom of most invoices, you’ll also see any payment terms along with payment methods and additional instructions.

What is a statement?

While an invoice relates to a specific transaction, a statement can cover multiple transactions. The statement is a current report showing the customer’s account status, reflecting payments already made and outstanding invoices. 

While invoices contain specific details relating to each transaction, statements aren’t usually so detailed. It will show an itemized list of transactions for the statement period including:

• Date of each transaction

• Invoice number and total

• Credits and debits

• Ending balance

• Payment terms

The purpose of statement vs invoice

Invoice: An invoice is sent to a client to ask for payment while providing the client with details about the expenses and services billed.

Statement: A statement reflects all transactions that took place between you and a particular customer for a given period of time.  This shows the client as a summary/standing of their account.

• Detail: An invoice offers more details about specific sales, while a statement offers an itemized list and grand total.

• Timing: Statements are issued at regular intervals, while invoices are sent at the completion of any sale.

• Accounting: An invoice must be recorded in accounts payable, but a statement is purely informational and doesn’t need to be recorded.

When to use a statement vs invoice

Invoices are sent to request payment for the services provided.  Ideally, customers will pay invoices as soon as they are received, and a statement is a reflection of all the invoices over a period of time.  A best practice is to apply payments with in Bill4Time, which creates the most accurate data for reports, invoices, and statements.