How to handle expired gift vouchers (2024)

You can set your gift vouchers up with expiry dates when you create them, oradjust an existing gift voucher's expiry date once it has been issued.

In this guide we'll cover:

1. How to change or add an expiry date.
2. What happens when a gift voucher expires.
3. How to reactivate an expired gift voucher.

How to add or change a voucherexpiry date

You can set your gift vouchers up with expiry dates when you create them, or you can adjust an existing gift voucher's expiry date.

To change the expiry date of a specific gift voucher:

1. Head toSetup > Gift vouchersfrom the main menu:
2. Search for the voucher you want to edit:
3. Or, head to the customer's record and view theGift vouchersection:
4. Click the voucher code to open the gift voucher:
5. Go to theExpirytab:

   

6. Click on the date field and use the date picker to select another date:
7. Or, click the circle next to theNeveroption to remove an expiry date:
8. ClickSaveto apply:
9. Once the voucher has expired, it will no longer be valid and can't be redeemed. See below for instructions on how to reactivate a gift voucher.

Note: Make sure to check with the laws in your country around expiry dates of gift vouchers. Some countries prohibit the use of expiry dates.

What happens when a gift voucher expires

Gift voucher's are treated as aLiabilityuntil they are redeemed.When a gift voucher expires, then that liability is no longer owed to the customer and that value will need to be treated asRevenueinstead.

When a gift voucher expires, we will automatically create an invoice which debits the value of the voucher from theliabilityaccount. In the same invoice, we will record that gift voucher value asrevenue.

This means that theTotalvalue of the invoice will be 0.00:

While the net value of the invoice is 0.00 and won't be included in yourExecutive summaryreport, the newrevenuethat has been introduced will be shownin yourSales report.

These will be easily identified in the report under theTotal Gift Vouchers expired for the periodfigure, as well as in theGV Expirycolumn in theSales by staff membertotals:

You can find/view the adjustment invoice from the Gift VoucherActivitytab. There will be a link to the invoice provided next to the history item identifying the expiry:

Handling gift voucher expiry with accounting integrations

If you have Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB connected, then a copy of the expiration sale will be sent to your accounting system. This will ensure that the revenue and liability accounts in your accounting system are also updated.

If you choose to reactivate the voucher (see below), then the expiry invoice in Timely will automatically be deleted. To ensure your accounts are up to date, you will need to manually delete the associated invoice in Xero/MYOB/QuickBooks directly.

How to reactivate an expired voucher

If a customer's voucher has expired, but you still want to honour it, then you can reactivate the voucher.

1. Head toSetup > Gift vouchersorSales > Search gift vouchers:

   

2. Enter the customer's name, or the voucher code in the field provided and click the search icon:

   

3. Click the voucher code to edit the gift voucher:

   

4. Or, head to the customer's record and view theGift vouchertab:

   

5. Click on the voucher code to view the gift voucher:

   

6. Click theReactivatebutton next to the status to activate the voucher:
7. Confirm that you would like to reactivate the voucher by clickingOk:
8. This will set the expiry toNever, but you can edit this to set a new expiry date (see above).
9. The voucher will then show up asActiveand can be redeemed by the customer.