Gift vouchers

A gift voucher is a voucher somebody buys and that somebody else comes and uses up later. This article explains what such a voucher is in accounting terms, how you sell one in your web shop, how you issue one by hand, how you redeem it in the shop and at the desk, and how you block it when it is lost. After this article you will know of every voucher where its money has gone.

What a gift voucher really is

A gift voucher is prepaid money. Somebody gives you fifty euros today and gets a code for it. That code is the proof that you still have to supply them with fifty euros' worth of something later: a ticket, a guided tour, a book from your shop.

For a treasurer that means something very concrete. The money is in your account all right, but it has not yet been earned. In accounting terms an issued gift voucher is a liability on your balance sheet: an obligation towards the holder of the voucher. Only at the moment the voucher is redeemed and you really supply something does that amount move from "liability" to "income". That is also why most organisations charge no VAT on the sale of the voucher itself, but only on redemption, when it is clear what is being bought and at which rate.

Note: exactly how you book this depends on your status and on the kind of voucher. Ask your accountant once and write down the answer. Passavo keeps track of the movements and supplies you with the figures; the booking itself remains your choice.

Practical consequence: a gift voucher nobody ever comes and redeems stays in your bookkeeping until it expires. A voucher without an expiry date would therefore stay on your balance sheet as a liability for ever. That is why every voucher in Passavo gets an expiry date; further on you can read how to choose the period.

The difference from a discount code

Those two are constantly mixed up, and they really are not the same thing.

	Discount code	Gift voucher
What it is	A rule: ten per cent off, or five euros off	A balance: money somebody has already paid
Who paid	Nobody. You give a discount	The buyer, in advance
After use	The code stays in place and works again for the next customer	The balance drops. Used up is used up
In your bookkeeping	Less turnover	First a liability, then turnover
Can go in parts	No	Yes, down to the cent

If you want to run a promotion ("ten per cent in December"), use a discount code. If you want to put money into somebody's hands that they may spend with you, use a gift voucher.

What you need beforehand

• The Owner or Administrator role: only those may manage products and gift vouchers. If you do not know which role you have, look at Staff and roles.
• A working payment method if you want to sell the voucher online, see Connecting a payment provider.
• A decision about the amount: one fixed amount, or do you let the buyer choose.
• A decision about the validity period. Twelve months is the standard.
• About ten minutes for the setting up; after that it costs nothing more.

Step 1 — Selling a voucher in your ticket shop

This is the usual way: you put the voucher among your tickets, and visitors buy it themselves with their bank card.

1. In the menu on the left, go to Products.
2. Click New product at the top right.
3. Under Type choose Gift voucher. That is what distinguishes a gift voucher from a ticket: a ticket gives admission, a gift voucher gives balance.
4. Give the product a name the buyer understands. "Gift voucher" is enough; "Gift voucher 25 euros" is clearer when you put several next to one another.
5. In the The gift voucher block, under Amount on the voucher, choose:

Choice	What the buyer chooses	When do you use this
Fixed amount (the price of this product)	Nothing; the price of the product is the balance	You want fixed denominations, 25, 50 and 100 euros as three separate products for instance
The buyer chooses	An amount of their own, within the limits below	You want somebody to be able to give exactly 37 euros

6. If you choose The buyer chooses, you can fill in a Smallest amount and a Largest amount. If you leave them empty, the buyer chooses between 5 and 500 euros. You can only narrow those limits, not widen them: a voucher below 5 or above 500 euros is not possible. The limits really are enforced too: anyone who adjusts the form in their browser still does not get a voucher for a thousand euros.
7. If you wish, set a period of your own under Valid in months (at least one month). If you leave this empty, the voucher is valid for twelve months.
8. Click Create. From that moment the voucher simply sits among your other products in the shop.

Why a maximum? Without an upper limit a gift voucher is an easy way to launder a large amount in one go with a stolen bank card: buy with the stolen card, pass the code on, and the balance stands apart from the card. That is why there is always a ceiling of 500 euros, even if you fill in nothing yourself.

What the buyer gets

After payment an email leaves automatically for the buyer, containing:

• the code as readable text — which you forward or copy out;
• a QR code with that same code;
• the expiry date;
• buttons to add the voucher to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet;
• a pdf in your organisation's house style.

That pdf is made to be printed. Open it, print it on ordinary paper or on somewhat thicker paper, fold it once and slip it into a card. The code is printed large enough on it to be copied out by hand, and the QR code is on it for anyone who simply has it scanned. If you do not want to print it, forward the pdf as an attachment to an email; that works just as well.

On the checkout page the buyer can fill in, per voucher, the Recipient's name, the Recipient's email address and a Message on the voucher. The name and the message go onto the voucher; if they leave the name empty, their own name is on it. If they fill in a recipient's email address, that recipient gets a copy of the email. The buyer always gets the voucher themselves, so that they can also hand it over in person.

The code consists of twelve characters and uses no nought, no capital O, no one, no I and no L. That is deliberate: a voucher gets copied out, and "was that a nought or an O?" is exactly the phone call you do not want.

Step 2 — Issuing a voucher by hand

Sometimes you do not sell a voucher but give one. A way of putting things right after an unpleasant visit, a prize at a quiz, an exchange with a fellow organisation, or simply a sale at the desk that does not go through the till.

1. In the menu, go to Gift vouchers.
2. Click Issue a gift voucher.
3. Fill in the Amount, in euros: 25 or 25.50.
4. If you wish, fill in the Recipient's name and a Message on the voucher.
5. If you wish, fill in a Recipient's email address. If you do, the voucher leaves for that address straight away, with the pdf attached. If you leave it empty, the voucher does exist but Passavo sends nothing; you then print it yourself with Download voucher.
6. Leave Valid until empty for the standard period of twelve months, or choose a date yourself.
7. Under Internal note, write why you are issuing the voucher. Only you see that note, in the back office.
8. Click Create. The voucher opens straight away, with its code.

Note: a voucher you issue by hand is just as much a liability as a voucher that has been sold. It is only that no money came in against it. So do not give away large amounts lightly, and write down under Internal note why you gave it.

Step 3 — Redeeming a voucher in the shop

The visitor does this themselves, online.

1. They put their tickets in the basket and go to the checkout page.
2. There sits a Discount code or gift voucher block with one Code field.
3. They type their code in and click Apply.
4. The amount of the voucher comes off the total, and the shop immediately says how much is left on the voucher. If there is still something to pay, they simply settle the rest with their bank card.

One gift voucher can be used per order. If the visitor types in a second voucher code, it replaces the first. A discount code and a gift voucher together on one order is possible.

That it is one field for both is a deliberate choice. Somebody with a slip of paper in their hand does not always know whether they are holding a discount code or a gift voucher, and choosing the wrong field is an error message nobody understands.

Step 4 — Redeeming a voucher at the desk

1. Ring up the products as always.
2. In the checkout block, type the voucher's code into the Voucher field.
3. Click Redeem.

At the desk a voucher pays the whole sale or nothing: the till cannot combine a voucher with cash or a card in the same sale. There are therefore four outcomes:

Outcome	What happens	What you say to the customer
Voucher exactly used up	The balance was exactly the amount. The voucher is empty	"That is paid in full with your voucher. The voucher is now empty."
Balance left over	The balance was larger than the amount. The rest stays on the voucher	"There is still 17.50 euros on your voucher. Keep it, you can use it again until 3 May."
Not enough balance	The till refuses and says how much is still on the voucher	"There is still 12 euros on your voucher. Shall we settle this in two goes?"
Expired, blocked or used up	The till refuses and says why. For an expired voucher the date is in the message	"This voucher expired on 3 May. Let me see what we can do."

The second conversation is the most important one. Always say out loud how much is left on the voucher and until when. Without that sentence the visitor thinks the rest has evaporated, throws the voucher away, and then you have a liability in your books that nobody comes and claims. That is not a windfall but a dissatisfied visitor.

If there is not enough on the voucher, settle up in two sales: first products up to the voucher's balance, paid with the voucher, and then the rest in cash or by card. If the visitor would rather not split anything, they can also use the voucher online: there they simply pay the difference on top.

A voucher of fifty euros on a bill of ten euros gives off ten euros and not forty euros in change; the forty euros stay on the voucher. A gift voucher is not a banknote.

Moreover, a voucher expires at the end of its expiry day. Anyone standing at the desk at ten in the morning on that very day should not be told that their voucher ran out during the night.

A voucher is, what is more, only written off when payment has actually been made. If somebody drops out halfway through the payment, or their card fails, they have not lost their voucher.

Step 5 — Blocking a voucher

You block when a voucher has been lost or stolen, or when you have made a mistake in issuing one.

1. Go to Gift vouchers.
2. Find the voucher by its code or by the recipient's name. If the buyer did not fill in a recipient, their own name is there.
3. Open the voucher.
4. Click Block, fill in a reason if you wish, and confirm.

The voucher stops working straight away, in the shop and at the desk. The balance stays in place. That is deliberate: a voucher that was lost and turns up later should simply work again, and in a dispute it has to stay visible how much was on it. With Release you take the block off again. Blocking and releasing can also be done straight from the list.

On the same page there are a few more actions:

Action	What it does
Block	The voucher stops working. The balance stays in place
Release	The block comes off; the voucher works again
Adjust balance	Books a difference, with a required reason
Email voucher	Sends it again, to an address you choose yourself
Download voucher	The pdf, to print

An adjustment does not overwrite the balance but books a difference. That way it stays visible in the history that something has been put right, by whom and why.

Under the voucher sits the history: every movement as an entry of its own, with the order and the staff member alongside. That is the piece with which you settle a dispute.

In the Gift vouchers list you can filter on Status (Usable, Used up, Expired, Blocked) and on Expires within a month. That last filter is handy for giving holders a reminder while there is still time.

Validity

By default a voucher is valid for twelve months, counted from the day it was issued. If you want to depart from that, set a period of your own on the product under Valid in months. A voucher you issue by hand gets the date you choose under Valid until, or otherwise twelve months as well.

The expiry date is on the pdf and in the email.

Common mistakes

Creating a gift voucher as a discount code of a hundred per cent. That seems to work until the second customer uses the same code and you let two people in free. A discount code is a rule, not a balance.

Not checking the limits of a free amount. If you fill in nothing, a buyer can choose up to 500 euros. If that is a lot for your organisation, set a lower Largest amount: a voucher bought with a stolen card ends in a chargeback from your payment provider.

Saying nothing on a partial redemption. The visitor throws the voucher away and you are left with a liability that never gets resolved. One sentence at the desk solves that.

Deleting the voucher because it is "no longer needed". That is not possible, and just as well. Blocking is what you are looking for.

Not saying the expiry date out loud. It is already on the voucher and in the email, but say it at the desk as well. A voucher that expires without the holder knowing costs you more goodwill than the amount is worth.

What if …

… the customer has lost their code?

Find the voucher by the recipient's name (or the buyer's, if no recipient was filled in) in the Gift vouchers overview. If you find it, open it, click Email voucher and send it to an address you choose yourself. If you cannot find it again and the customer has no proof at all, there is little to be done: a voucher without a code cannot be told apart from an invented one.

… the voucher has just expired and the customer is at the desk?

That is a policy decision, not a technical one. An expired voucher no longer works, not even after its balance has been adjusted. If you want to be lenient, use Issue a gift voucher to give a new voucher for the remaining amount, and set the old one to zero with Adjust balance. Write down the reason for both, so that it is in the history and you can see later how often you do that.

… somebody wants to use the voucher for something dearer?

That is the normal case. The voucher covers what it covers, the customer pays the rest with their bank card or at the desk. You do not have to do anything special.

… an order paid (partly) with a voucher is refunded?

With Refund on the order you only pay back the part that was paid with money. The voucher amount does not come back onto the voucher by itself. If you want that, open the voucher, click Adjust balance, fill in the amount as a positive number and put the order number in the reason. That way it is in the history as well. See Cancelling and refunding.

… you want to use two vouchers on one order?

That is not possible: one voucher counts per order. Use the second on a next order. If you still want to merge them, use Adjust balance to take the balance off one voucher (negative amount) and put it onto the other with a second adjustment (positive amount), each time with the same reason.

Frequently asked questions

Can a voucher be used in parts? Yes. That is the normal case: what is not used up stays on it, down to the cent. You can use up a voucher of fifty euros over ten visits of five euros.

Can I reverse a voucher? You reverse a payment made with a voucher with Adjust balance on the voucher: fill in the amount as a positive number, with the order number as the reason. A refund of the order does not do that by itself. You see the adjustment as a separate entry in the history.

Can I delete a voucher? No. An issued voucher is a liability and not a row that disappears. If you want to make it unusable, block it. It then also stays visible that it has existed, and that is precisely what you need when a question comes up afterwards.

Do I have to charge VAT on the sale of a voucher? Usually not at the moment of the sale, because it is not yet settled what is being bought and at which rate. The VAT belongs with the redemption. Put this to your accountant once: it depends on your status and on the kind of voucher you sell.

Does a gift voucher sold count towards my turnover for today? In your till overview you see the money come in, because it is in your account. In your bookkeeping it is not yet income but a liability. That difference is normal; it resolves itself as soon as the voucher is redeemed.