Gift Receipt and Exchange Record

Who this is for

Keep gift receipts where you can find them. Record each gift you buy with the retailer, the amount, where the receipt is and the exchange-by date printed on it, and see how many days are left to swap it.

Anyone buying presents ahead of Christmas, birthdays or a wedding who wants to hand on gift receipts or change an item before the retailer's window closes.

What this helps you track

• Every gift bought, who it is for and where it came from
• Where each receipt is kept, on paper or in an email
• The exchange-by date from each receipt and the days left to it
• Which gift receipts still need handing to the recipient
• What has been exchanged or returned and the total spent

How to use it

1. Write the occasion and the year.
2. Record each gift as you buy it: who it is for, the retailer and the amount.
3. Note whether the receipt is paper or email and copy the exchange-by date from the receipt or the retailer's terms.
4. Days remaining, receipts still to hand over and items past their date are worked out in the browser and the workbook.
5. Tick when a gift receipt goes to the recipient and when an item is exchanged or returned.

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 long do I have to exchange a gift?

That depends on the retailer and sometimes the season. The sheet supplies no window; copy the date from the receipt or the retailer's returns terms, and check your rights where you live if something is faulty.

What counts as past its date?

Any gift not yet exchanged or returned whose exchange-by date is before today. It is a prompt to act or to let it go, not a statement of what the retailer will accept.

Where should I keep email receipts?

Anywhere you can search later. Many people use one email folder or label per occasion; write that folder name in the receipt column so you can find it quickly.

Can I record gifts I receive as well?

It is set out for gifts you buy, but you can use a second copy for gifts received, with the giver in the for whom column and the exchange-by date from the gift receipt.