Sell and Redeem Gift Cards in Jackrabbit

Gift cards are a great way to add a new revenue stream for your business and bring in new customers. Whether it’s a birthday celebration, graduation, anniversary, or another occasion, a gift card is a perfect way to spoil someone. Sell them year-round to increase revenue on top of your usual services and products.

Use the following process to record the sale and redemption of gift cards.

Get Set Up

Before selling gift cards, there are a few things to set up in Jackrabbit:

Create drop-down list values

Category 1 - Gift Cards
Revenue from gift cards should be directed to a dedicated Category 1; this makes it easier to report on the cards you've sold.
Transaction Type - Gift Card Redeemed (Credit)
When a gift card is redeemed, it must be recorded as a non-monetary credit to keep it out of your revenue. For ease of reporting, it is recommended to create a new non-monetary credit Transaction Type to track the redemption of gift cards separately from other credit adjustments.
Transaction Type - Gift Card Sold (Debit)
When a gift card is sold, a dedicated Transaction Type allows for greater reporting and visibility.
Payment Method - Gift Card
Gift Card will be used as the Method when a gift card is redeemed.

Add store items for the gift cards with set denominations

Create the Item # to include the denomination of the card.
Add the Item Name "Gift Card #". When a gift card is sold in the store, this note will act as a prompt for the User to enter the card number.
Select the Gift Cards Category 1 value.
Select the Gift Card Sold (Debit) Transaction Type.

Sell a Gift Card

Gift cards are sold using the Select Store Items section of the Make Sale/Post Fees screen (from a Family record or the Store menu).

Select the required denomination from the store items you added in the setup.
Add the number of the gift card to the Note field. Note: This must be done to allow you to track outstanding card balances.

Redeem a Gift Card

Gift cards are redeemed by recording them as a non-monetary credit in the Payment Transaction Entry screen (from a Family record or the Store menu > Make Sale).

Set the Transaction Type to Gift Card Redeemed.
Select the Gift Card Method (payment) drop-down value added during setup.
Record the gift card number in the Chk# field. Note: This must be done to allow you to track outstanding card balances.

Report on Gift Cards

Several Jackrabbit reports will allow you to track the sale and redemption of gift cards and identify outstanding gift cards.

Sales Detail Store menu > Store Reports	The Sales Detail report displays a listing of all gift cards sold over the selected period, including the Note field that contains the gift card number.
Deposit Slip Reports menu > Transactions/Financials	Use the Deposit Slip to find the non-monetary transactions. In the Search Criteria, select Gift Card Redeemed (Credit), and in the Display Settings choose to display the notes.
Paid Fees Reports menu > Transactions/Financials	The Paid Fees report shows your gift card sales over a selected period, broken out from your other revenues. It can be displayed with the transaction details, which include the Note field with the gift card number.
Transaction Search Transactions menu > Search	When filtered for Transaction Types = Gift Card Redeemed (Credit) and Gift Card Sold (Debit), Search Transactions provides a register of gift card sales and redemptions with the gift card numbers. Export to Excel and sort by the columns with the card number to calculate outstanding gift card balances.

See the example below to follow through a business scenario and see what these reports look like in action!

Example

This example outlines a business scenario where gift cards were sold and redeemed. It illustrates the various reporting options when the transactions are recorded in Jackrabbit using the process outlined above.

On November 30, 2022:

4 gift cards were sold totaling $200, and payment was received.
3 gift cards were redeemed, totaling $140:
- The Ager family paid an event fee ($25) and November tuition ($75) with their $100 gift card #22107
- The Brown family bought some merchandise ($25) with their $25 gift card #22108
- The Evans family used part of their $25 gift card, #22109, to pay the balance owing on a tuition fee ($15). There is $10 remaining on their gift card.