Generate PDF Receipts from Google Forms Submissions: A Step-by-Step Guide

Generating PDF receipts from Google Forms submissions can greatly streamline your workflow and enhance the user experience. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the process of setting up a seamless automation system using Google Apps Script. By the end, you’ll have a solution that generates PDF receipts, saves them to Google Drive, and even sends them via email.

Prerequisites

Before getting started, make sure you have the following:

A Google account
Access to Google Forms and Google Drive
Basic familiarity with Google Apps Script

Step 1: Set Up the Google Form

First, create a Google Form to collect the necessary information for the receipt. Include fields such as customer name, transaction details, and payment amount.

Step 2: Create the Google Apps Script Project

Open the Google Form and go to the Settings (gear icon) > Script editor.
In the Apps Script editor, delete the default code and replace it with the following code:

function generatePDFReceipt(e) {
  var submittedValues = e.namedValues;
  
  // Generate PDF receipt using the submitted form data
  var pdfContent = generateReceiptPDF(submittedValues);
  
  // Save the PDF to Google Drive
  var folderId = "your-folder-id"; // Replace with the ID of the target folder in Google Drive
  var folder = DriveApp.getFolderById(folderId);
  var pdfFile = folder.createFile("Receipt.pdf", pdfContent, "application/pdf");
  
  // Send the PDF via email
  var recipientEmail = "recipient@example.com";
  var subject = "Receipt for your submission";
  var body = "Thank you for your submission. Please find the receipt attached.";
  MailApp.sendEmail({
    to: recipientEmail,
    subject: subject,
    body: body,
    attachments: [pdfFile.getAs(MimeType.PDF)]
  });
}

function generateReceiptPDF(data) {
  // Code to generate the PDF content using the submitted form data
  // Customize this function to create the receipt layout and content
  
  var pdfContent = "Receipt Content:\n";
  
  for (var field in data) {
    pdfContent += field + ": " + data[field] + "\n";
  }
  
  return pdfContent;
}

function generatePDFReceipt(e) {

var submittedValues = e.namedValues;

// Generate PDF receipt using the submitted form data

var pdfContent = generateReceiptPDF(submittedValues);

// Save the PDF to Google Drive

var folderId = "your-folder-id"; // Replace with the ID of the target folder in Google Drive

var folder = DriveApp.getFolderById(folderId);

var pdfFile = folder.createFile("Receipt.pdf", pdfContent, "application/pdf");

// Send the PDF via email

var recipientEmail = "recipient@example.com";

var subject = "Receipt for your submission";

var body = "Thank you for your submission. Please find the receipt attached.";

MailApp.sendEmail({

to: recipientEmail,

subject: subject,

body: body,

attachments: [pdfFile.getAs(MimeType.PDF)]

});

}

function generateReceiptPDF(data) {

// Code to generate the PDF content using the submitted form data

// Customize this function to create the receipt layout and content

var pdfContent = "Receipt Content:\n";

for (var field in data) {

pdfContent += field + ": " + data[field] + "\n";

}

return pdfContent;

}

Step 3: Customize the Code

Review the code and customize the generateReceiptPDF(data) function to create the desired receipt layout and content based on your requirements.
Replace "your-folder-id" with the ID of the folder in Google Drive where you want to save the PDF receipts.
Update the recipientEmail, subject, and body variables in the MailApp.sendEmail() method to match your preferences.

Step 4: Configure the Trigger

In the Apps Script editor, go to Edit > Current project’s triggers.
Click on the + Add Trigger button.
Set up the trigger as follows:
- Choose the generatePDFReceipt function to run.
- Select the On form submit event.
- Save the trigger.

Step 5: Test the Workflow

To ensure everything works correctly, submit a test entry through your Google Form. Verify that the PDF receipt is generated, saved to the specified Google Drive folder, and sent to the designated email address.

Congratulations! You have successfully set up an automated workflow to generate PDF receipts from Google Forms submissions. This will save you time and effort while providing a seamless experience for your users.

Feel free to explore additional customization options, such as formatting the receipt content or integrating with other services.