DIY Tool Borrow and Hire Log

Who this is for

Know where every tool that is not yours has got to. Tools borrowed from friends and family go in one table, with who owns them and when they are due back. Hired tools go in another, which works out the days out, the hire cost at your rate and the deposits still to come back.

Homeowners doing their own DIY who borrow a ladder from a neighbour or hire a floor sander for a weekend, and anyone who has ever had to admit they do not know whose drill it is.

What this helps you track

• Every borrowed tool, who it belongs to and when it should go back
• Every hired tool, the shop, the dates out and back, and the hire charge
• The condition things were returned in
• Hire deposits paid and how much has been refunded
• What is still out and what the hire has cost in total

How to use it

1. Write the project, your name and your contact number at the top, so a lender can reach you.
2. When you borrow a tool, add it to the borrowed table with the owner and the date you promised it back.
3. When you hire one, enter the shop, the dates, the day rate from the hire agreement and the deposit paid.
4. Fill in the return date when it goes back; days out and hire cost are worked out in the browser and the workbook.
5. Enter any deposit refunded, so the summary shows what is still held by the shop.
6. Check the due column at the end of each day's work so nothing sits in the garage past its date.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How is the hire cost worked out?

Days out multiplied by the day rate you enter from the hire agreement. If the shop charges by the week, a weekend or a fixed period, use the figure on its invoice instead and note the difference; the sheet does not know any shop's pricing.

Why keep borrowed tools on a separate table?

Because they carry no charge but still need to go back on time and in the same condition. Keeping them apart stops the hire totals being muddled and makes the list of favours owed easy to read.

What should I note about condition?

Anything worn, damaged or missing when it went back, and whether you told the owner. For hired tools, the shop's own check-in note is the record that matters, so keep that with this log.

How does the sheet know what is still out?

It counts the tools with a date out and takes away those with a return date. On paper, look down the returned column for the blanks.