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Find answers to common questions about TaxReceipt.app

Two Approaches

TaxReceipt.app offers two ways to create PDF receipt templates:

  1. Design from scratch -- lay out fields and page settings yourself, either in the template form or the visual designer used during receipt generation.
  2. Upload a fillable PDF -- bring your own pre-designed PDF form and map its fields to your data columns.

Designing from Scratch

Go to Templates, open the PDF Templates tab, and click the create-template button. This opens a form where you set:

  1. Page setup -- page size (Letter, Legal, or A4), orientation, and top/right/bottom/left margins.
  2. Typography -- a font family (Helvetica, Times-Roman, Courier, Arial, Georgia, or Verdana) and font size used as the template default.
  3. Fields -- click Add Field for each piece of data you want on the receipt, and set its name, type (Text, Number, Date, Image, Checkbox, or Signature), and exact X/Y position and width/height.
  4. Output settings -- print quality and optimization level, plus checkboxes for Allow Editing, Enable Form Fields, Require Digital Signature, and Password Protection.

Because positioning is by exact coordinates rather than drag-and-drop, it helps to preview after every few fields rather than placing everything blind.

Field Types

  • Text, Number, Date -- populated from your import data (donor name, amount, date, and so on) or typed as static text.
  • Image -- logos, signatures, or decorative elements, sourced from your uploaded image library, a URL, or a new upload.
  • Checkbox -- boolean values (for example, whether an advantage was received).
  • Signature -- a signature image or placeholder for an authorized signer.

The Visual Field Designer

If your project's PDF strategy is set to design a new template (rather than upload or reuse one), the Generate step opens a drag-and-drop canvas instead of the form above. It supports the same underlying template but a different way of building it:

  • Drag fields into place -- add Label, Text Field, Image, or Calculated fields from the sidebar, then drag them on the page; a snap-to-grid option (toggle and grid size in View Settings) keeps everything aligned. Width and height are set precisely in the field editor rather than by dragging a resize handle.
  • Trace your own layout -- toggle Show Background to overlay an uploaded reference PDF at an adjustable opacity, so you can drop fields exactly where they belong on a form you already use.
  • Bind fields to data -- each Text Field's Data Field Mapping is a searchable picker listing the columns from your linked import template, so you don't have to remember exact field names.
  • Validate before saving -- the Field Validation panel scores how well your fields match the import mapping and flags missing or unused fields; where it can, an Apply (or Apply All) button fixes the issue for you.
  • Preview with sample data -- a live preview renders the template with sample donor values as you build it.

Choosing a Template for a Run

When your project uses an existing PDF template, the template picker lets you search by name, description, or country, filter by country or year, and sort by name, date modified, or field count -- in a grid or list view. Results are split into your organization's My Templates and TaxReceipt.app's built-in System Templates (the CRA-aligned Canada templates, for example), so you can tell at a glance which ones you can edit.

Uploading a Fillable PDF

If you already have a PDF form (created in Adobe Acrobat, LibreOffice, or similar):

  1. Go to Templates and click Upload PDF Template.
  2. Upload your .pdf file.
  3. The system detects form fields automatically.
  4. Map each form field to a data column or organization property.
  5. Preview and save.

Country-Specific Compliance

Canada (CRA)

Official donation receipts issued by registered charities must include:

  • Organization name and CRA registration number
  • Donor name and address
  • Donation date and amount
  • Receipt number (unique, sequential recommended)
  • Statement that the receipt is an official receipt for income tax purposes
  • Place of issuance and signature of authorized individual

See the CRA guide on issuing donation receipts for full requirements.

United States (IRS)

Acknowledgment letters for donations over $250 must include:

  • Organization name and EIN
  • Donor name
  • Donation amount and date
  • Statement of whether goods or services were provided in exchange

Tips

  • Always preview with real data before generating a full batch.
  • Keep important text away from page edges (at least 0.5 inch margin).
  • Test printing on paper to verify layout and legibility.
  • Save multiple template versions if you need different layouts for different campaigns.

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