Bill vs. Voucher — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Fiza Rafique — Updated on March 14, 2024
A bill is a request for payment, while a voucher is proof of a transaction.
Difference Between Bill and Voucher
Table of Contents
ADVERTISEMENT
Key Differences
Bills are issued by sellers to request payment from buyers for goods or services provided, detailing the amount owed. Vouchers, in contrast, serve as proof of a transaction, such as payment or receipt, and can be used to authorize financial transactions or verify expenditures.
While a bill is presented before or after a transaction as an invoice, indicating the total amount due, a voucher is used post-transaction as evidence, supporting the details of the transaction like the amount paid, date, and parties involved. This distinction underscores the bill's role in initiating payment and the voucher's role in substantiating the transaction.
Bills are often part of the accounts receivable process for the issuer and accounts payable for the recipient, directly affecting financial statements. Vouchers, however, are part of internal control mechanisms in accounting, ensuring that every transaction is authorized and recorded accurately.
The format and content of a bill are usually standardized, focusing on the transaction details such as quantity, price, and total amount. Vouchers can be more varied, encompassing different types of documents like receipts, invoices, or internal company forms, depending on the purpose they serve.
In some cases, a bill can be accompanied by a voucher, especially in reimbursement scenarios where the bill serves as the request for payment, and the voucher is the internal document authorizing the reimbursement based on the bill submitted.
ADVERTISEMENT
Comparison Chart
Purpose
Requests payment for goods/services
Proves a transaction occurred
Use
Before/after a transaction
Post-transaction as evidence
Role in accounting
Affects accounts receivable/payable
Part of internal controls
Content
Details amount owed, itemizes services/goods
Can include receipts, invoices, authorization forms
Relation to financial statements
Directly impacts
Supports and verifies entries
Compare with Definitions
Bill
Payment request.
The bill itemized the services provided.
Voucher
Transaction proof.
The voucher served as proof of the business expense.
Bill
Part of accounts receivable/payable.
The bill was recorded in the company's accounts payable.
Voucher
Supports transactions.
The voucher was used to verify the expense in the ledger.
Bill
Details owed amount.
The bill listed the total amount due for the items purchased.
Voucher
Internal control mechanism.
Vouchers are reviewed as part of the company's audit process.
Bill
Standardized format.
The utility bill followed a monthly standardized format.
Voucher
Varied documents.
The travel expenses were documented with various vouchers.
Bill
Issued by sellers.
The restaurant issued a bill for the meal.
Voucher
Used post-transaction.
After the purchase, a voucher was issued as a receipt.
Bill
The law enacted from such a draft
A bottle bill in effect in three states.
The GI Bill.
Voucher
A voucher is a bond of the redeemable transaction type which is worth a certain monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include housing, travel, and food vouchers.
Bill
An itemized list or statement of fees or charges.
Voucher
A small printed piece of paper that entitles the holder to a discount, or that may be exchanged for goods or services.
Bill
A statement or list of particulars, such as a theater program or menu.
Voucher
A piece of substantiating evidence; a proof.
Bill
The entertainment offered by a theater.
Voucher
A written record of expenditure, disbursement, or completed transaction.
Bill
A public notice, such as an advertising poster.
Voucher
A written authorization or certificate, especially one exchangeable for cash or representing a credit against future expenditures.
Bill
A piece of legal paper money
A ten-dollar bill.
Voucher
To substantiate or authenticate with evidence.
Bill
(Slang) One hundred dollars.
Voucher
To prepare a voucher for
Properly vouchering each transaction.
Bill
A bill of exchange.
Voucher
To issue a voucher to
A company that vouchers employees when the payroll cannot be met.
Bill
(Obsolete) A promissory note.
Voucher
A piece of paper that entitles the holder to a discount, or that can be exchanged for goods and services.
This voucher can be redeemed at any Walmart in the state until March 31 2013.
A voucher for a free kettle
This voucher entitles the bearer to a 20% discount on frozen goods.
Bill
A draft of a proposed law presented for approval to a legislative body.
Voucher
A receipt.
Bill
A document containing the formal statement of a case in equity; a complaint seeking equitable relief.
Voucher
One who or that which vouches.
Bill
An indictment or charge in an indictment against an accused person.
Voucher
(advertising) A copy of a published advertisement sent by the agency to the client as proof of publication.
Bill
A structure projecting from the head of a bird, consisting of the jaws and their horny covering and including the upper and lower mandibles; a beak.
Voucher
(historical) A mechanical device used in shops for automatically registering the amount of money drawn.
Bill
A similar horny mouth part, such as that of a turtle.
Voucher
(transitive) To establish the authenticity of; to vouch for.
Bill
The visor of a cap.
Voucher
(transitive) To provide a vouch for (an expenditure).
Bill
(Nautical)The tip of the fluke of an anchor.
Voucher
(transitive) To provide (a beneficiary) with a voucher.
Bill
A billhook.
Voucher
One who vouches, or gives witness or full attestation, to anything.
Will his vouchers vouch him no more?
The great writers of that age stand up together as vouchers for one another's reputation.
Bill
A halberd or similar weapon with a hooked blade and a long handle.
Voucher
A book, paper, or document which serves to vouch the truth of accounts, or to confirm and establish facts of any kind; also, any acquittance or receipt showing the payment of a debt; as, the merchant's books are his vouchers for the correctness of his accounts; notes, bonds, receipts, and other writings, are used as vouchers in proving facts.
Bill
To present a statement of costs or charges to.
Voucher
The act of calling in a person to make good his warranty of title in the old form of action for the recovery of lands.
Bill
To enter on a statement of costs or on a particularized list.
Voucher
A document attesting to a credit against certain defined expenditures; a recipt for prepayment; - often used in pre-arranged travel plans, to provide evidence of pre-payment of the cost of lodging, transportation, or meals.
Bill
To advertise or schedule by public notice or as part of a program.
Voucher
Someone who vouches for another or for the correctness of a statement
Bill
To declare or describe officially; proclaim
A policy that was billed as an important departure for the administration.
Voucher
A document that serves as evidence of some expenditure
Bill
To touch beaks together.
Voucher
A negotiable certificate that can be detached and redeemed as needed
Bill
Any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword, and later a weapon of infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, commonly consisting of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, with a short pike at the back and another at the top, attached to the end of a long staff.
Bill
A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle, used in pruning, etc.; a billhook.
Bill
Somebody armed with a bill; a billman.
Bill
A pickaxe, or mattock.
Bill
(nautical) The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke (also called the peak).
Bill
The beak of a bird, especially when small or flattish; sometimes also used with reference to a platypus, turtle, or other animal.
Bill
A beak-like projection, especially a promontory.
There is a lighthouse on Portland Bill.
Bill
Of a cap or hat: the brim or peak, serving as a shade to keep sun off the face and out of the eyes.
Bill
A written list or inventory. (Now obsolete except in specific senses or set phrases; bill of lading, bill of goods, etc.)
Bill
A document, originally sealed; a formal statement or official memorandum. (Now obsolete except with certain qualifying words; bill of health, bill of sale etc.)
Bill
A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.
Bill
A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.
Bill
A piece of paper money; a banknote.
Bill
One hundred dollars.
Bill
A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; an invoice.
Bill
A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods
Bill
A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document; a bill of exchange. In the United States, it is usually called a note, a note of hand, or a promissory note.
Bill
A set of items presented together.
Bill
The bell, or boom, of the bittern.
Bill
(transitive) To dig, chop, etc., with a bill.
Bill
(obsolete) to peck
Bill
To stroke bill against bill, with reference to doves; to caress in fondness
Bill
(transitive) To advertise by a bill or public notice.
Bill
(transitive) To charge; to send a bill to.
Bill
A beak, as of a bird, or sometimes of a turtle or other animal.
Bill
The bell, or boom, of the bittern
The bittern's hollow bill was heard.
Bill
A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle; - used in pruning, etc.; a billhook. When short, called a hand bill, when long, a hedge bill.
Bill
A weapon of infantry, in the 14th and 15th centuries. A common form of bill consisted of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, having a short pike at the back and another at the top, and attached to the end of a long staff.
France had no infantry that dared to face the English bows end bills.
Bill
One who wields a bill; a billman.
Bill
A pickax, or mattock.
Bill
The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke.
Bill
A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.
Bill
A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document.
Bill
A form or draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.
Bill
A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods; a placard; a poster; a handbill.
She put up the bill in her parlor window.
Bill
An account of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; a statement of a creditor's claim, in gross or by items; as, a grocer's bill.
Bill
Any paper, containing a statement of particulars; as, a bill of charges or expenditures; a weekly bill of mortality; a bill of fare, etc.
Bill
To strike; to peck.
Bill
To join bills, as doves; to caress in fondness.
Bill
To work upon ( as to dig, hoe, hack, or chop anything) with a bill.
Bill
To advertise by a bill or public notice.
Bill
To charge or enter in a bill; as, to bill goods.
Bill
A statute in draft before it becomes law;
They held a public hearing on the bill
Bill
An itemized statement of money owed for goods shipped or services rendered;
He paid his bill and left
Send me an account of what I owe
Bill
A piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank);
He peeled off five one-thousand-zloty notes
Bill
The entertainment offered at a public presentation
Bill
A list of particulars (as a playbill or bill of fare)
Bill
An advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution;
He mailed the circular to all subscribers
Bill
Horny projecting mouth of a bird
Bill
A sign posted in a public place as an advertisement;
A poster advertised the coming attractions
Bill
A long-handled saw with a curved blade;
He used a bill to prune branches off of the tree
Bill
A brim that projects to the front to shade the eyes;
He pulled down the bill of his cap and trudged ahead
Bill
Demand payment;
Will I get charged for this service?
We were billed for 4 nights in the hotel, although we stayed only 3 nights
Bill
Advertise especially by posters or placards;
He was billed as the greatest tenor since Caruso
Bill
Publicize or announce by placards
Common Curiosities
What is a bill?
A bill is a document issued to request payment for goods or services provided.
How do bills and vouchers differ in their use?
Bills request payment for a transaction, while vouchers provide evidence of transactions that have occurred.
Can a voucher be used as a bill?
Generally, no. A voucher is proof of a transaction, not a request for payment.
Are bills always related to sales?
Yes, bills are typically issued in the context of sales transactions.
Can vouchers include personal expenses?
Vouchers can document any transaction, including business and sometimes personal expenses if they're reimbursable.
Is a receipt considered a voucher?
Yes, a receipt is a type of voucher that proves a payment was made.
Do bills need to be paid immediately?
The payment terms of bills vary, often specifying a due date.
How does a bill impact financial statements?
Bills affect accounts receivable or payable and are reflected in financial statements.
What role do vouchers play in accounting?
Vouchers are part of internal controls, used to verify and authorize transactions.
What is a voucher?
A voucher is a document that serves as proof of a transaction, such as a payment or receipt.
What information is typically found on a bill?
Bills usually detail the goods or services provided, quantities, prices, and the total amount due.
How are lost vouchers handled in accounting?
Lost vouchers can complicate accounting processes; companies often have procedures for investigating and resolving such issues.
Can a voucher authorize a transaction?
Yes, some vouchers serve as authorization for financial transactions.
Are electronic documents considered valid vouchers?
Yes, electronic documents can serve as valid vouchers, depending on the context and regulations.
How are vouchers used in audits?
Auditors review vouchers to verify the accuracy and authorization of financial transactions.
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Sugar vs. Starch
Next Comparison
Socket vs. PortAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
