A rent receipt exists to answer one question later: was this rent paid, for which period, and how much of it. Most receipts fail at that because they record the date money arrived and not the period it was for, which is the only part anyone ever argues about. This page is about issuing receipts that still answer the question a year later, written for the landlord or manager issuing them rather than for the tenant filing them.
The six fields
Who paid, for which property and unit, the period the payment covers, the amount, the method, and the balance left on the tenancy afterwards. The last one is the field most receipts omit and the one that makes a run of receipts readable: a receipt that says a balance of zero is a complete answer, and one that says a balance carried is the start of a conversation you are having on purpose rather than by surprise.
Period beats date
A payment that arrives on the third for the month just starting, a payment that arrives late for the month before, and a payment that covers half of each are three different facts that look identical if you only record the day the money landed. Recording the period the payment is applied to is what turns a stack of receipts into a ledger. It is also what makes a partial payment survivable, because you can say which period is short.
Partial payments are where receipts earn their keep
When a tenant pays part of the rent, the receipt has to say what it was applied to and what remains, or both sides will later remember it differently and both will be sincere. Decide the order of application once, write it into the agreement, and apply it the same way every time: usually oldest balance first, then the current period. A receipt issued on that rule is evidence; one issued ad hoc is a note.
Issue it even when nobody asks
Some states require a receipt on request and a few require one for cash regardless. The cost of issuing one every time is a few seconds; the cost of not having one is an argument you cannot settle. Issuing automatically also removes the awkward case where a tenant asking for a receipt reads as an accusation, which is a small thing that makes the rest of the relationship easier.
Questions people ask about rent receipt
Does a rent receipt have to be signed?
Usually not, though a few states expect a signature or an agent's name on receipts for cash. What matters far more is that it names the period and the balance, because that is what a later question will be about.
Is an emailed receipt enough?
For most purposes yes, and it has the advantage of being timestamped and searchable. Keep it against the tenancy as well as in the outbox, because an email account is not a record system.
What about payments made in cash?
Issue the receipt at the moment the cash changes hands and keep your copy. Cash is the one payment method with no independent trail, so the receipt is the only evidence either side will have.