Free Gift Voucher Templates

A gift voucher does two jobs at once: it’s a present for the person receiving it and a prepayment for the business issuing it. Salons, restaurants, shops, and small services use them constantly, and a good voucher is mostly about getting a handful of details right. The free templates below are editable MS Word designs, and beneath them you’ll find what belongs on a voucher, how to number and track them, and the three things worth deciding before you print a batch.

What Goes on a Gift Voucher

• Your business name and logo, with address and phone number. The holder may be redeeming it a year from now, possibly having never visited you.
• The word “Gift Voucher”, clearly.
• The value — a monetary amount, or what it entitles the holder to: “one 60-minute treatment,” “afternoon tea for two.”
• A unique voucher number. The single most important field, and the one most home-made vouchers leave off. See below.
• “To” and “From” lines — it’s a gift, and the buyer wants to write on it.
• Issue date and expiry date, if you use one.
• Terms and conditions — short, on the voucher itself. Not transferable for cash, no change given, one per visit, subject to availability: whatever applies.
• An authorised signature or stamp, added by hand when the voucher is sold.

Gift Voucher Example

Three details worth copying. The voucher number is printed and visible, not hidden in small text. The terms say what happens to an unused balance — the question that comes up most often at the till. And there’s a signature line to complete by hand, which is both a small anti-copying measure and a prompt to log the voucher when you sell it.

Free Gift Voucher Templates in MS Word

Each template below is editable in Word. Add your business details and terms once, save a master copy, then change only the number, value, and dates.

 

Classic Gift Voucher Template

A bordered design with value panel, to-and-from lines, voucher number, and a terms block at the foot.

 

Restaurant Gift Voucher Template

Sized for a dining voucher with space to describe what’s included — a meal for two, afternoon tea, a set menu — rather than a cash value.

 

Here is the download button for this free gift voucher.

 

Here is the download button for this free gift voucher.

 

Here is the download button for this free gift voucher.

 

Here is the download button for this free gift voucher.

 

Here is the download button for this free gift voucher.

 

Numbering and the Voucher Log

Every voucher needs its own number, and every number needs a line in a log. It takes a few seconds per sale and it’s what turns printed vouchers from a liability you can’t see into something you control.

The log needs five columns: voucher number, value, date issued, sold to, date redeemed. A notebook by the till works; a spreadsheet works better.

What it gives you:

• You can spot a photocopy. If GV-0642 comes back twice, you know immediately — and you know who bought the original.
• You know your outstanding liability — the total value issued but not yet redeemed, which is money you’ve taken for goods you still owe.
• You can settle disputes. “I bought this in March” is checkable rather than arguable.
• You can honour a lost voucher if you choose to, because you can verify it was sold and never redeemed.

Print vouchers on card rather than paper, add the signature by hand at the point of sale, and check the number against the log at redemption. Those three habits between them make casual duplication impractical.

Expiry Dates

Worth checking before you print, because this is regulated in more places than people expect.

Many jurisdictions set a minimum validity period for gift vouchers and gift certificates, and some prohibit expiry on them altogether. A number of US states require several years’ validity or ban expiry dates on gift certificates entirely; EU rules set minimum periods for certain voucher types; and elsewhere, terms that are unreasonably short may simply be unenforceable as unfair contract terms.

The practical consequence: printing “valid for 3 months” may not be enforceable where you trade, and you may find yourself honouring a voucher you’d assumed had lapsed. Check the rules that apply to your business before committing to a validity period, and set a generous one — a year or two is common, and the goodwill from honouring a slightly expired voucher almost always outweighs the value of refusing it.

A Voucher Is a Liability, Not a Sale

When someone buys a £50 voucher, you’ve received £50 and owe £50 of goods or services. Until it’s redeemed, that money isn’t revenue — in accounting terms it sits as deferred income, a liability on your balance sheet, and it becomes revenue only when the voucher is used.

Two practical implications for a small business. First, don’t count voucher sales as profit in the month you sell them — a strong December of voucher sales is a January of unpaid work if you’ve already spent the money. Second, your voucher log tells you the size of that liability, which is the figure your accountant will ask for at year end.

How unredeemed vouchers are eventually treated in your accounts varies by jurisdiction and by whether the voucher can expire. Ask your accountant how to handle it rather than assuming old vouchers simply become income.

Decisions to Make Before You Print

• What happens to an unused balance? A £50 voucher spent on a £38 service — do you give the £12 as change, leave it on the voucher, or does it lapse? Decide, and print the answer in the terms. This is the most common question at the counter.
• Is it transferable? Most gift vouchers are, deliberately, since the recipient may pass it on. Say so either way.
• Can it be exchanged for cash? Almost always no, and it should be stated.
• What about lost vouchers? Strictly, a lost voucher is a lost gift. In practice, with a log you can verify an unredeemed number and choose to honour it — which is good for the customer and costs you nothing you hadn’t already been paid for.
• Can it be combined with offers? Decide before someone asks.
• Who can authorise a redemption, and what do staff check? Brief whoever’s on the till before the vouchers go on sale.

Homemade Vouchers

The other kind, and one of the better presents anyone gives: a handmade booklet of vouchers promising things rather than money.

They work because they’re specific and because they commit you to something. A few that people actually redeem:

• For a partner: one lie-in · dinner cooked, your choice · an evening where I handle everything · one film of your choosing, no complaints
• For a parent, from a child: one car wash · washing-up for a week · one afternoon of help in the garden · breakfast in bed
• For a grandparent: an afternoon out, my treat · one phone call every Sunday for a month · help with anything on the computer
• Between friends: one lift to the airport, any hour · one hour of help moving furniture · one difficult conversation, listened to properly

Two things make them better. Put an expiry a long way out, or none at all — the point is that they’re redeemable when needed, which is often months later. And write them by hand, or print the template and fill it in by hand. The whole value is that it’s personal.

Print six or eight, staple them into a small book, and add one blank with “one of anything, within reason” — which is invariably the one that gets used first.

Printing

• Use card, 200–250 gsm. Vouchers live in wallets and drawers for months; paper doesn’t survive it.
• Two or three to an A4 sheet, trimmed with a guillotine rather than scissors.
• Print the number by hand or with a numbering stamp if you’re producing small batches — it’s faster than editing the file each time, and handwritten numbers are harder to reproduce convincingly.
• Consider an envelope — a voucher handed over in a small envelope feels like a gift rather than a receipt.
• Print a test and fold it into a wallet for a day before committing to a run. Anything that creases into illegibility needs a rethink.

Related templates: discount vouchers for promotional offers, cash vouchers, and sales receipts for recording the voucher sale itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a gift voucher include?

Your business name and contact details, the word “Gift Voucher,” the value or entitlement, a unique voucher number, to-and-from lines, the issue and expiry dates, short terms and conditions, and a signature or stamp added by hand at the point of sale.

Why do gift vouchers need a number?

So you can track them. With a number and a log you can spot a duplicate, know how much value is outstanding, verify a voucher a customer says they bought, and choose to honour a lost one. Without a number, none of that is possible.

Can I put an expiry date on a gift voucher?

Often yes, but many jurisdictions set minimum validity periods and some prohibit expiry on gift certificates altogether. Check the rules where you trade before printing — short validity periods may be unenforceable, and a generous one is usually better for the relationship anyway.

Is a gift voucher counted as income when it’s sold?

Not usually. Until the voucher is redeemed you’ve taken money for goods you haven’t supplied, so it’s typically treated as deferred income — a liability — and becomes revenue when it’s used. Ask your accountant how to handle unredeemed vouchers at year end.

What happens if a customer spends less than the voucher’s value?

Whatever your terms say — the common approach is to leave the unused balance on the voucher for a future visit rather than giving cash change. Decide before you print, and put the answer in the terms.

What if a customer loses their gift voucher?

Strictly it’s treated like losing cash, and most terms say vouchers can’t be replaced. In practice, if you keep a log you can check the number was sold and never redeemed, and choose to honour it — which costs nothing you weren’t already committed to.

How do I stop gift vouchers being photocopied?

Number them sequentially, keep a log, print on card that photocopies poorly, and add a handwritten signature at the point of sale. Then check the number against the log at redemption — a duplicate shows up immediately.

What can I write on a homemade voucher?

Something specific you’ll actually do: one lie-in, dinner cooked, a car wash, an afternoon of help in the garden. Specific promises get redeemed; vague ones don’t. Write them by hand and leave the expiry generous or off entirely.