Gift certificates
Face value, validity, accounting and online sales: what to settle before anything gets printed
A certificate is a prepaid amount that the bearer spends on any of your services. Unlike a membership it is tied neither to particular services nor to the person who bought it: a certificate for an amount can cover part of an appointment, with the client paying the rest another way.
Certificate or membership
They are different products, and confusing them gets expensive in December.
| Certificate | Membership | |
|---|---|---|
| What you sell | An amount | A number of visits or a duration |
| What it covers | Any service | The ones chosen in the template |
| Who owns it | The bearer | A specific client |
| When people buy | As a gift, seasonally | For themselves, regularly |
If a client asks "can I give this as a present?", they want a certificate. If they ask "is it cheaper if I pay up front?", they want a membership.
What to settle before printing
A certificate is an obligation, so its terms have to be decided before it reaches a client:
- Face value. A few fixed amounts rather than an arbitrary one: easier to sell and easier to count.
- Validity. A limit is acceptable, but it has to be reasonable and clearly stated.
- What happens to the difference. If the service costs less than the face value, the unused remainder is usually not refunded in cash. Write that down rather than implying it.
- Topping up. If the service costs more, the client pays the difference. The system supports partial coverage from a certificate for an amount.
What belongs on the certificate itself
- the face value
- the validity period
- your company name, address and contacts
- a series and number, or the code the certificate is found by in the system
- a link to the full terms
The code is not a formality. It is exactly how staff find a certificate that is not assigned to a client, when someone turns up with a printed sheet.
Selling online
Certificates sell through the same online booking form as memberships: allow their sale in the online booking settings and have a payment provider connected. For seasonal demand this is critical, since most gift purchases happen in the evening and at weekends, when no administrator is working.
How a certificate is applied to an appointment
On an online booking the system checks for a membership or certificate immediately after prices and discounts. If a certificate for an amount does not cover the total, the difference carries on: it is taken from the client balance or offered for online payment.
In the appointment list, staff can:
- pay for the appointment fully or partly from a certificate for an amount
- find a certificate that is not assigned to a client by its code
- pick a certificate from the client's available list
Accounting and fiscalisation
Selling a certificate and using it are two events separated in time, which is exactly why they get confused. The money arrives at the point of sale, the service is delivered later, sometimes in a different reporting period.
How gift certificates are fiscalised has its own rules, and that is a question for your accountant rather than for the system settings. What the system provides is traceability: you can see when a certificate was sold, and when and against which appointment it was used.
Seasonality
Demand for certificates peaks in December and around holiday dates. The practical conclusion is single: online sales have to be switched on and tested before the season starts, not in the middle of it. A test purchase with your own money a week ahead costs less than discovering on 30 December that payment does not go through.
Common questions
Can a certificate be for a specific service rather than an amount?
Yes, but then it is closer to a membership for one service. A certificate for an amount is more flexible for whoever receives it.
What if the client loses the certificate?
If it is assigned to a client, it is on their record. If not, only the code will find it, which is why the code is worth duplicating electronically at the point of sale.
Can validity be extended?
Yes, that is the company's call. But one rule for everyone, written into the terms, beats deciding case by case.
Do discounts apply alongside a certificate?
Discounts are applied to the service price before the certificate is checked, so the certificate covers the already-final amount.