# How receipts are issued

> When DonorCARE creates a receipt, what it contains, and who receives it.

Source: https://donorcare.my/help/organizations/receipts/how-receipts-are-issued/

**Who can see this:** Owner, Admin, Finance, Member, Viewer

Every completed donation gets its own receipt automatically — here's when it's created, what's on it, and how it reaches the donor.

## Why it works this way

A receipt number is assigned the moment a donation is completed — through an online payment or a manual "mark as completed" — so no donation sits completed without one. The receipt document itself (the PDF) is rendered on demand rather than stored ahead of time: the first time it's actually needed, whether that's sending the completion email, a donor downloading it, or you opening it from the donation record, DonorCARE builds it fresh and caches the result. Editing the donation afterwards — the amount, the donor's name, anything that appears on the receipt — invalidates that cache, so the next copy anyone gets reflects the correction.

The date printed on the receipt is the **payment date** — when the money actually moved — not the date the donation record was created, in line with how DonorCARE counts every figure by its cash date.

## The terms

**Receipt** — the numbered PDF document DonorCARE generates for a completed donation, emailed to the donor and available from a shareable link.

**Receipt number** — a sequential number, unique to your organization, assigned once and never reused. See [Set your receipt numbering](https://donorcare.my/help/organizations/receipts/set-your-receipt-numbering/).

**Payment proof** — a file a donor or staff member can attach to a donation as evidence of payment (a bank transfer slip, a DuitNow screenshot). This is **not** the receipt — it's what the donor sent you, stored on the donation record for your reference, never issued to anyone.

## What this means in practice

**Do**

- Rely on the automatic email — a completed donation with a donor email on file gets a receipt without any extra step, unless the campaign has receipt emails switched off.
- Expect the receipt to update itself the next time it's opened after you correct a donation's details — you don't need to regenerate anything by hand.

**Don't**

- Treat the payment proof file attached to a donation as its receipt. One is what the donor sent you; the other is what DonorCARE issues to them.
- Expect a receipt for a donation that never reached "completed" — pending, failed and voided donations don't get one.

## Worked example

A donor gives RM250 by FPX to a campaign on 3 September, and the payment completes the same day. DonorCARE assigns the next receipt number in your organization's sequence, and within moments emails the donor a PDF receipt dated 3 September — the payment date — with a link to view it again anytime. If you correct the donor's name on that donation the next day, the next copy anyone opens (staff or donor) reflects the correction automatically.

## Related

- [Set your receipt numbering](https://donorcare.my/help/organizations/receipts/set-your-receipt-numbering/)
- [Re-send or regenerate a receipt](https://donorcare.my/help/organizations/receipts/resend-or-regenerate-a-receipt/)
- [Verify a receipt](https://donorcare.my/help/organizations/receipts/verify-a-receipt/)