Handling Gift Certificates/Vouchers

Gift certificates and vouchers can be issued, redeemed, and tracked in Boulevard to manage customer balances. When redeemed, the system records the transaction against the customer’s account, ensuring accurate tracking of both sales and unused balances.

  Steps:

• (1) Creating a Gift Certificate Product Profile: A single reusable product profile may be created for gift certificates, with the retail value specified at the time of sale, or multiple profiles can be set up where the retail value and description are defined during profile creation.
• (2) Selling a Gift Certificate: When selling a gift certificate, record the invoice under the purchaser’s profile; optionally add it to the recipient’s profile as a Gift Certificate payment, otherwise wait until redemption.
• (3) Gift Certificate Redemption: To redeem a gift certificate, ensure the redeemer has a contact profile; then either apply an existing credit or record the certificate on the invoice.
• Gift Certificate Report: A report can be run to view all gift certificates sold and redeemed within a specified time period.

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Step 1: Creating a Gift Certificate Product Profile  

The following steps will guide you through creating a product profile and, as an essential part of the process, enabling the Gift Certificate setting. When selling a gift certificate, sales tax is not collected; instead, tax is applied only when the certificate is redeemed.

1. Create a new product profile with the No Inventory option selected.
2. Ensure the Taxable checkbox is unchecked, then select the Gift Certificate option.
3. Enter the denomination of the gift certificate in the Retail/Cost field, as shown in Example 1. Or, if you want to set the amount when invoiced, leave it as $0.00, as shown in Example 2 (recommended). 
4. When finished, click Save.

The examples show the gift certificates being saved in a Gifting Bundles & Looks category. You can save the gift certificate to another category, such as Last Chance / Discontinued Items, or see Create a Custom Product Category to create a custom category instead. 

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Step 2: Selling a Gift Certificate  

When selling a gift certificate, the invoice is recorded under the purchaser’s contact profile. If the recipient has a contact profile and you want the gift certificate amount noted there, record it as a payment and select Gift Certificate as the Payment Type. Otherwise, no further action is required until redemption.

1. Add the gift certificate to the purchaser's invoice (A).
2. If applicable (as in Example 2 above), enter the certificate cost in the Price column (D).
3. If the recipient is known at the time of the sale and you have a contact profile created for them, select their name in the Product is For field (E).
4. Add any applicable discounts, payment method, and other relevant details. When finished, click Save.

Tips & Other Info:

• For additional tracking, add the invoice Number (C) and purchase Date (B) to the physical gift certificate as a reference. View Sample Invoice
• If the redemption amount of the gift certificate exceeds the amount paid (E.g., the customer paid $75, but the gift certificate can be redeemed for $100), enter the redemption amount on the physical gift certificate given to the recipient.
• When selling gift certificates, the amount sold will be displayed on the Weekly Accomplishment form under the Income section in the Gift Certificate Sold column.

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Step 3: Gift Certificate Redemption  

When redeeming a gift certificate, first ensure the redeemer has a contact profile or create one if it was not set up at purchase. If the profile already exists, check whether the gift certificate has already been entered as a payment (shown as a credit on account); if not, the certificate can be recorded on the invoice at the time of redemption.

1. Create a new invoice and add the purchased items under the gift certificate recipient's profile.
2. Enter the original invoice number listed on the gift certificate in the Memo field (C) to enable cross-reference tracking.
3. If you did not add the amount as a payment to the recipient's profile when the gift certificate was purchased, enter the entire gift certificate amount under the Gift Certificate payment method (D).
4. If the certificate is not fully redeemed, the unused amount will remain as a credit on their account. If they purchased more than the gift certificate amount, enter the amount in the field for the applicable payment method (Credit Card, Cash/Check). 

 

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Gift Certificate Transactions Report  

  To view a listing of gift certificates sold and redeemed, from the Business Tools menu, select Reports.

1. Under the Sales section, select Gift Certificate Transactions, then click Print to open the Date Range form.
2. From the Start and End drop-down menus or Quick Dates menu, choose a period, then click OK to print or preview.
3. From the preview window, click to print (or to export as a pdf). 

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  Additional Information:

Be sure to check the laws in your area (the office of the Attorney General in your state & the CFPB) before adding an expiration date to gift certificates or gift cards, determining how to handle inactivity, and addressing any other applicable laws.

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