When to use this
The moment a charge succeeds: subscriptions renewing, one-off purchases, top-ups. A receipt is not an invoice. The invoice asks for money; the receipt confirms it moved, and its job is to be an unambiguous record. Four facts, instantly scannable: amount, date, payment method, receipt number. Everything else is optional.
Write the subject line for the future reader. "Receipt from Acme: $49.00, 24 Jul 2026" is findable in an inbox search three years later during an expense claim or a tax return. "Thank you for your payment!" is not. Receipts are the one place where a boring, information-dense subject beats anything clever.
The line that prevents chargebacks
"Don't recognise this charge? Reply and we'll look into it before you call your bank." That sentence earns its place. An unrecognised charge with no obvious human to ask becomes a bank dispute, and disputes cost you fees, products, and payment-processor standing. A receipt that arrives instantly, names your company clearly, and offers a reply path catches the confusion while it's still a conversation.
The template
Copy-ready, table-based so it renders everywhere, inline styles only. Swap the {{placeholders}} for your values or your template engine's variables.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<body style="margin:0;padding:0;background:#f4f5f7;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<table role="presentation" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:#f4f5f7;padding:24px 0;">
<tr><td align="center">
<table role="presentation" width="460" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"
style="background:#ffffff;border-radius:8px;padding:32px;">
<tr><td style="font-size:18px;font-weight:bold;color:#111;padding-bottom:12px;">
{{company_name}}
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size:15px;color:#444;line-height:1.6;padding-bottom:18px;">
Payment received. Thanks, {{first_name}} — here's your record.
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding-bottom:18px;">
<table role="presentation" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"
style="background:#f8f9fa;border-radius:6px;padding:14px 16px;">
<tr>
<td style="font-size:13px;color:#666;">Amount paid</td>
<td align="right" style="font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;color:#111;">{{amount_paid}}</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="font-size:13px;color:#666;padding-top:6px;">Date</td>
<td align="right" style="font-size:13px;color:#111;padding-top:6px;">{{paid_date}}</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="font-size:13px;color:#666;padding-top:6px;">Payment method</td>
<td align="right" style="font-size:13px;color:#111;padding-top:6px;">{{payment_method}}</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="font-size:13px;color:#666;padding-top:6px;">Receipt no.</td>
<td align="right" style="font-size:13px;color:#111;padding-top:6px;">{{receipt_number}}</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size:12px;color:#888;line-height:1.6;">
Don't recognise this charge? Reply to this email and we'll look
into it before you call your bank.
</td></tr>
</table>
<table role="presentation" width="460" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td style="font-size:11px;color:#999;padding:16px 8px;text-align:center;">
Sent by {{company_name}} · {{company_address}}
</td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>Deliverability: the half that actually fails
A missing receipt reads as a scam signal to the customer: money left their account and no confirmation arrived. That erodes exactly the trust a receipt exists to build, and it happens silently, because nobody complains about an email they didn't know to expect. Receipts must send instantly on a transactional stream that marketing traffic can't congest or contaminate, from a domain with aligned authentication, since money-related mail is held to phishing-grade scrutiny.
And keep the receipt pure. The moment it carries an upsell banner, it starts competing for promotional-tab placement, and your payment record ends up filed next to newsletters. If receipts are already landing in spam, run the free deliverability check first; the fix is nearly always in sending reputation, not the HTML.
Related
- Invoice template: the request that precedes this record
- Order confirmation template: receipt plus fulfilment in one
- Transactional Email: the category, defined
- Transactional Email Service: the sending layer for payment mail