Gift Cards

The Gift Card feature of LightSpeed allows you to sell and track gift cards for a variety of denominations and purposes, including the ability to adjust the card’s balance for multiple uses. 

As explained below, there are two methods for recording a serial number when a Gift Card is sold - either it is generated by LightSpeed, or it is entered from a pre-printed Gift Card taken from a series ordered from a third party company. If you are ordering pre-serialized Gift Cards, you should request that their format is either C39 barcode, or Track 2 Data Magnetic Stripe. The cards you order should each have a unique ID number encoded one of these ways.  This number is what will be entered and stored in LightSpeed when a Gift Card is sold. It is suggested that this ID number also is printed on the card in the event that a magnetic stripe becomes demagnetized. 

1. In the Gift Card setup panel (Tools > Setup > Point of Sale > Gift Cards), you have the choice to enter your own gift card serial numbers, or to have LightSpeed generate its own serial numbers for your cards.  
   
   If you have gift cards that require serial numbers to be generated, select the first radio button and choose the label size for the label on which you will print the serial number. When you sell a gift card, LightSpeed will print a label that shows the credit amount, as well as the gift card serial number. Affix this label to the gift card; when the card is redeemed, you will scan or type this serial number for its retrieval from LightSpeed.  
   
   If your gift cards are already serialized, choose the second radio button. You will be asked to enter/swipe this number when you save the Invoice selling the Gift Card. 
2. Create a new Product to reflect the Gift Card.  It must be non-inventoried and non-serialized, and the Tax Status must be set to “No Tax”, which will be the default settings when the Gift Card checkbox is checked.  Set the Selling Price to the denomination of the Gift Card.  Save the Product.  You can create a new Product for each value of the Gift Cards you wish to sell.  If you prefer, you can check the Editable Selling Price and Editable Description checkboxes and use the same Product for different denominations. 
   
   If you do Accounting Exports to MYOB or QuickBooks, choose the Gift Card Liability Account you have set up in your accounting software as the GL Income Account located in the GL tab. 
3. In Tools > Setup > Basics > Payment Methods, set up a Payment Method called “Gift Card”.  In the drop-down menu, select Gift Card.  Again, if you do Accounting Exports, choose the GL Account that reflects your Gift Card Liability Account.  This will be the same GL Account you assigned in the GL tab of the Gift Card Product profile (as outlined above).  Click Save.  
4. To sell the Gift Card, create a new Invoice and assign the purchasing Customer.  Next, add the Gift Card Product.  If you are editing the Selling Price, click the Price field and change it to the desired amount; otherwise, leave the amount as set in the profile.  Click Save.  If you have chosen Generate Gift Card Serial Numbers in the Gift Card setup panel, you will be asked if you wish to print the Gift Card label.  Clicking OK will result in the label being printed, which can then be affixed to the Gift Card.  The serial number sequence will start at G-1000, and can be changed in Tools > Setup > Basics > ID Numbers.  Once the Invoice is saved, you will be notified that the Gift Card has been activated. 
   
   You can now process the Payment.  
   
   The Payment Method of this Invoice will not be Gift Card – the purchasing Customer will pay by normal means – cash, cheque, or credit card.  
5. To redeem the Gift Card, create a new Invoice and attach the redeeming Customer.  Add the Products that the redeeming Customer is purchasing, and save the Invoice as you would normally.  In the Payment screen, click the Gift Card button.  You will be asked to enter/swipe the serial number for the Gift Card, and a window will appear asking you to indicate how much of the remaining balance on the Gift Card you wish to apply to this Invoice (similar to the procedure for applying credits). Once the Gift Card balance has been applied as a payment, the Gift Card will be auto-entered as a line item on the Invoice, with a negative value. The reason for this is to prevent revenue being reported twice.

If only part of the Gift Card balance is applied, the balance will remain on account for that serial number, and can be redeemed in the future using the same procedure.

Payments made using Gift Cards will be exported with the normal Payment export to your accounting software.  Both purchases and redemption of Gift Cards will affect the same GL Account when it is set in both the Gift Card Product profile and the Gift Card Payment Method.  

History

To track the status and history of your Gift Cards, choose the Gift Cards option in the Tools menu.  You will be able to check the status of a particular serial number and its remaining balance, as well as any sales documents to which it was applied.  Pressing the All button will bring up all Gift Cards which can then be filtered based on whether they’re active or inactive.  You can use the Reprint button to reprint the label, or click History to open the History drawer to check a particular Gift Card’s usage.  

Recharging

If your customer decides to add more money to an existing Gift Card, sell the Gift Card as described above on an Invoice, and rather than enter a new serial number, enter the existing one. A dialog box displays asking if you want to add the quantity to an existing amount. 

It is only possible to recharge a gift card if you have chosen the option to enter/swipe gift card serial numbers in the Gift Card Setup panel. 

Cancelling

If you have any Gift Cards that are created accidentally, or have expired, you must follow these steps to cancel the card and set its serial number to zero. 

1. Create two non-inventoried, untaxed Products to represent "Expired Gift Card" and "Error Gift Card". You could create one Product to handle either scenario, but creating two gives you the option for more detail in terms of reporting. These Products should have "Editable Sell Price" set. 
2. Create a Customer card to whom you can "sell" the cancelling transaction. 
3. Create an Invoice, adding the appropriate Product from Step 1 and the Customer you created in Step 2. 
4. Change the Sell Price to match the remaining value of the Gift Card you wish to cancel. Save the Invoice. 
5. Select the "Gift Card" payment method, and enter the serial number of the Gift Card you're cancelling. Complete the transaction.

You are now able to track these transactions with reports for Sales By Product, or Sales By Customer, using the filters to enter the item for which you need the information. To confirm the Gift Card has been cancelled, go to Tools > Gift Cards and look up the serial number. 

Multi-Store 

With LightSpeed's extended Multi-Store Pro feature set, you are able to process Gift Cards from any location linked to yours.  For more information, please see the Multi-Store article. 

Refunds to a Gift Card

If in case you are performing a refund, and would like to offer your customer a Gift Card in return, create the return Invoice as your normally would, and add a Gift Card Product onto the invoice priced at the same value as the merchandise returned.

If you were to return a $100 pair of jeans, totalling $115 with taxes, you would create a return Invoice for quantity "-1" jeans at $100, then add a Gift Card to the Invoice for $115 (the in-tax total).

You will notice that the Paid amount will be 0.00, and this Gift Card can be redeemed at any time.

Liquidating a Gift Card

 

To refund cash for a Customer's remaining Gift Card balance, complete these steps:

1. Create a non-taxed, non-inventoried Product called "GC-REFUND" (for example). It should have an editable selling price. 
2. Invoice this Product to the Customer at a price equal to the Gift Card balance you wish to refund. 
3. Use the Gift Card payment method to pay for this Invoice, entering the serial number for the Gift Card when prompted, leaving an Invoice balance of 0. Click Save. 
4. Click the Return button on the Invoice to return the "GC-REFUND" Product, and click Save. Now, apply a negative cash payment for the balance, and refund the Customer cash from your till. 

NOTE:

WARNING:

ALERT: