How to Sell and Redeem Gift Cards at the POS
Why paper gift vouchers cost more than they look
Shops sell gift cards because they bring in cash early and bring customers back. Many still run them on paper vouchers or a spreadsheet: a number written by hand, a balance crossed out at the till, and the money booked as a sale on the day the card was bought.
Each shortcut causes trouble later. A voucher booked as revenue overstates the month it was sold and understates the month it is spent. Balances on paper are easy to copy and hard to check. A lost voucher cannot be stopped, and a customer with half a voucher left has to argue about what remains.
A gift card needs a unique code, a balance the till checks before accepting it, a history of every use, and accounting that treats the unspent value as money owed to the holder rather than income.
Why this happens
- Gift card sales are booked as revenue on the day they are sold.
- Codes are handwritten or reused.
- Balances are tracked on paper or in a spreadsheet.
- Lost cards cannot be stopped.
- Corrections are made by changing sales figures.
Biznsbook addresses this through gift card items with no stock, one code per card on the receipt, gift card tender with balance check, freeze, expiry and balance adjustments on the POS till, with the value of every card held as a liability until it is spent.
Small gaps in the till rarely fail loudly. They show up later as numbers nobody can explain. Recording each step where it happens removes the guesswork.
Step-by-step: Sell and Redeem Gift Cards at the POS
Written for shop owners and store managers using Biznsbook POS.
- Mark your gift-card items. Go to POS → Terminal → Gift cards and mark the items you sell as gift cards, for example Gift card 25 and Gift card 50. Use items that hold no stock.
- Sell them like any item. Ring the gift-card item up. When the sale completes, one card per unit is issued with a code such as GC-7K2M-Q9TX-4HPB, shown after the sale and printed on the receipt.
- Hand over the receipt. Give the customer the receipt with the code. The card is never taxed when sold and its value is owed to the holder until it is spent.
- Redeem at checkout. Choose the Gift card tender, type or scan the code and add it. The till checks the balance first.
- Take part payments. If the card holds less than the total, the till offers to use what is left so the rest can be paid another way.
- Manage cards. On Gift cards, open a card to see its history, freeze it when reported lost, set an expiry date (check local law first) or adjust the balance with a reason.
- Handle refunds. A refund on a sale paid by gift card puts the money back on the same card. Gift cards themselves cannot be refunded at the till.
Review results after the first full monthly cycle. Adjust roles, mappings, or approvals where the same exception repeats.
Screen-level flows live in the Help Center. This guide focuses on the business process; help articles cover click-by-click navigation.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Mistake 1: Gift card sales are booked as revenue on the day they are sold. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in liabilities that do not match the cards in circulation.
- Mistake 2: Codes are handwritten or reused. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in liabilities that do not match the cards in circulation.
- Mistake 3: Balances are tracked on paper or in a spreadsheet. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in liabilities that do not match the cards in circulation.
- Mistake 4: Lost cards cannot be stopped. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in liabilities that do not match the cards in circulation.
- Mistake 5: Corrections are made by changing sales figures. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in liabilities that do not match the cards in circulation.
Each of these turns into a question the shop cannot answer quickly. Fix the process on the record rather than in email threads or spreadsheets.
Best practices that hold up as you scale
- Mark your gift-card items — Go to POS → Terminal → Gift cards and mark the items you sell as gift cards, for example Gift card 25 and Gift card 50.
- Sell them like any item — Ring the gift-card item up.
- Hand over the receipt — Give the customer the receipt with the code.
- Redeem at checkout — Choose the Gift card tender, type or scan the code and add it.
- Take part payments — If the card holds less than the total, the till offers to use what is left so the rest can be paid another way.
Use stock-free items for gift cards and never edit sales to correct a card; adjust the card with a reason instead.
How Biznsbook supports this workflow
gift card items with no stock is part of Biznsbook and works on the same records as the rest of the till, so the decision, the stock and the books stay in step and every action is recorded with who did it and when.
one code per card on the receipt is part of Biznsbook and works on the same records as the rest of the till, so the decision, the stock and the books stay in step and every action is recorded with who did it and when.
gift card tender with balance check is part of Biznsbook and works on the same records as the rest of the till, so the decision, the stock and the books stay in step and every action is recorded with who did it and when.
freeze, expiry and balance adjustments is part of Biznsbook and works on the same records as the rest of the till, so the decision, the stock and the books stay in step and every action is recorded with who did it and when.
Choosing gift-card items needs Manage company settings. Selling and redeeming work at any till; refunds of gift-card sales go back on the card.
Suggested implementation timeline
- Week 1: Set up gift card items with no stock and the permissions the people involved need.
- Week 2: Run the real process in Biznsbook only, with no side spreadsheet, for one team or site.
- Week 3: Review what was recorded with the people involved and tighten the rules where they disagreed.
- Month 2: Roll out to every team or site.
- Ongoing: Reviewing gift cards each month.
How gift card accounting works
When a gift card is sold, the money taken is not income yet. Biznsbook credits it to Gift Card Liability, because the shop owes that value to whoever holds the card. The card item holds no stock and carries no tax, so selling a card does not move inventory or create output tax.
When the card is spent, the sale it pays for is recorded as a normal sale with its own tax, and the Gift card tender reduces the liability by the amount used. Part payments work the same way: only the amount taken off the card leaves the liability, and the rest of the sale is paid by another tender.
Corrections never touch sales. Reducing a balance, for example when a card expires, moves the value from Gift Card Liability to a Gift Card Adjustments income account; a goodwill top-up does the reverse. Each adjustment needs a reason and appears on the card history, so the liability report and the card list always explain each other.
A refund of a sale that was paid with a gift card puts the money back on the same card rather than into the drawer. That keeps cash in the till matching the cash sales, and stops a gift card from being turned into cash by buying and returning goods.
Metrics to track monthly
- Gift Card Liability against cards with a balance
- Cards frozen this month
- Balance adjustments and their reasons
- Cards close to expiry
Start with three metrics; trend direction matters more than a single point-in-time snapshot.
Manual workarounds vs Biznsbook
Compare common manual workarounds with Biznsbook gift card items with no stock and the related capabilities.
| Capability | Manual / Spreadsheet | Biznsbook |
|---|---|---|
| Code | ❌ Handwritten number | ✅ Unique code per card on the receipt |
| Balance check | ❌ Crossed out on paper | ✅ Checked by the till before it is accepted |
| Accounting at sale | ❌ Booked as revenue | ✅ Held as a liability until spent |
| Lost card | ❌ Cannot be stopped | ✅ Freeze the card |
| Corrections | ❌ Edit the sales figures | ✅ Adjustment with a reason, sales untouched |
| Refund of a paid sale | ❌ Cash out of the drawer | ✅ Back on the same card |
Reviewing gift cards each month
Once a month, compare the Gift Card Liability balance with the cards still holding value, check frozen cards that were found again, and review any balance adjustments and their reasons. If you set expiry dates, review cards close to expiry and how you will treat them under local law.
Write the gift card rules (expiry, lost cards, refunds) into your till procedures.
Frequently asked questions
Is a gift card taxed when it is sold?
No. A gift card is never taxed when sold and is never counted as stock. Its value is owed to the holder until it is spent.
Can a customer use part of a gift card?
Yes. If the card has less than the amount, the till offers to use what is left so the rest can be paid another way, and the remaining balance stays on the card.
What happens when a card is lost?
Open the card on the Gift cards page and freeze it. Its history shows every sale and redemption.
Does adjusting a balance change my sales?
No. Reducing a balance moves the value from Gift Card Liability to a Gift Card Adjustments income account; increasing it does the reverse. The adjustments account is created the first time you adjust a card.
Can I set an expiry date?
Yes, per card. Check local law first, as many places restrict gift card expiry.
Can a gift card be refunded at the till?
No. A refund of a sale paid by gift card goes back on the same card, but the gift card itself cannot be refunded at the till.
How this differs by industry
Retail
Boutiques and gift shops sell fixed-value cards at the counter during the holidays and see every redemption, partial or full, on the card history.
Wholesale & distribution
Trade counters that also serve the public sell gift cards for walk-in customers without mixing them into trade sales.
Manufacturing
Factory outlets sell gift cards as staff or customer rewards and keep the unspent value as a liability in the books.