Bill

For most purposes, ‘bill’ is synonymous with ‘invoice’: a bill is a document which requests payment for previously supplied goods. Bills are issued, for example, at restaurants following a meal upon which immediate payment is required. The bill normally accounts for the full price of whatever has been consumed or supplied, includes any taxes and does not allow part-payment. Following payment, the customer normally exchanges the bill for a receipt showing that the supplier has received the due payment. Customers also receive bills from utilities, service providers and credit card companies. The latter typically demand payment by a certain date and give customers the option of paying only a part of a bill but will impose penalties in the form of interest if this option is taken up.

'Bill' may refer to draft legislation that becomes a legally enforceable Act if approved by parliament.

‘Bill’ may be used in place of ‘bill of quantities’ (BoQ) to refer to a document prepared by a cost consultant (often a quantity surveyor) that provides project-specific measured quantities of the items of work identified by the drawings and specifications in tender documentation for construction works. For more information see: see Bill of quantities.

‘Bill’ can also refer to a ‘billboard’ – an external, vertical surface or signboard, sometimes freestanding or fixed to buildings, onto which advertising posters are fixed.