Gift cards for a small restaurant: how to run them

Settle the rules first

Write these down once, tell the team, and print the ones guests need on the slip or the menu.

• Amounts. A few set amounts are quick to sell. Decide whether guests can choose any amount, and the most one card can hold.
• Expiry and fees. Many provinces and states limit or ban both on cards people pay for. Check the rules where you are before you print anything; the gift card laws guide links the official sources.
• Where a card works. If you have more than one location, say whether a card bought at one is good at the others.
• Lost cards and refunds. Decide what you will do before a guest asks.

At the counter

1. Ring the sale on your till first and take the payment.
2. Record the card with the till receipt number, so the two can be matched later.
3. Hand the guest the slip with the code, PIN and balance.
4. To spend a card, check its balance with the code and PIN, charge part or all of the bill to it, and take the rest on the till.

Treat the code and PIN like cash. Never read them out across the counter, and never write them in a notebook or a shared chat.

Example: one card through a month

These amounts and dates are an example.

• The 3rd: a guest buys a CA$50.00 card. The till shows the CA$50.00 sale.
• The 10th: they spend CA$32.40 on lunch. The card has CA$50.00 − 32.40 = CA$17.60 left.
• The 24th: the bill is CA$26.00. CA$17.60 comes off the card, and CA$8.40 is paid on the till.

At each close, the gift cards sold and redeemed that day should match the till: CA$50.00 sold on the 3rd, CA$32.40 redeemed on the 10th and CA$17.60 on the 24th. Until the 24th, part of that CA$50.00 was still the guest’s money, waiting to be spent.

Keep the books straight

Money taken for a gift card is a balance you owe until the card is spent. Keep a running total of what is still on the cards you have sold, and ask your accountant how to record a card sale and a card spend, and what happens to balances that are never used.

How Mezbano helps

In Mezbano, staff sell a card with a printed slip showing its code, PIN, balance and a QR code, and can email it to the guest too, or sell one of your printed cards. They add money to a card, charge part or all of a bill to it, and check what a card has left. Once you save your gift card settings, guests can check their balance on your brand’s balance page. Each sale can carry the till receipt number. The counter shows the cards sold and the amounts redeemed today, with every card that moved, and the day’s record shows the same totals. 5 wrong PINs lock a card for 15 minutes. You choose whether a card works only at the store that sold it or at every store of your brand. Paid cards never expire unless you set a number of months, and the liability report shows what guests still hold on your cards.