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Gift-card accounting, from issue to redemption

Keep gift-card liabilities separate from merchandise revenue. Configure the accounts for purchased cards, compensation cards and payments made using a gift card.

01

Purchased gift cards

A ₹1,000 gift-card purchase records ₹1,000 in the configured Gift Card Liability account. Gift-card product lines are separated from ordinary goods sales and their GST rate groups.

  • An order containing both a gift card and merchandise keeps the two components separate.
  • Configure the liability ledger alongside the supported account-creation settings.
02

Compensation cards

A merchant-issued ₹500 compensation card follows the configured goodwill workflow: debit Goodwill expense and credit Gift Card Liability.

  • Merchant-issued cards are captured through a daily polling workflow.
  • Saved event identities protect against recording the same issuance repeatedly.
03

Payment using a gift card

Redemption is a payment allocation, distinct from selling a gift-card product. Map the gift_card gateway to the intended liability account in gateway-level accounting.

  • Illustration: goods ₹1,000 + GST ₹180, funded by ₹400 gift card and ₹780 online payment. The intended allocation reduces gift-card liability by ₹400 and allocates ₹780 to gateway clearing.
  • Verify the destination account and supported payment behavior in your ERP during setup, particularly the Zoho payment-account configuration.
  • Single-party mode does not provide the same gateway-level breakdown.
04

Refunds and the remaining balance

Successful refund transactions determine the configured payment-account allocation. Do not assume every refund goes back to the original first payment method.

  • Review the actual refund method and amount reported by Shopify.
  • This is accounting for gift-card events, not a replacement for Shopify’s per-card balance management.

See the settings and accounting together.

Review worked examples, then configure your own store. Figures are simplified illustrations, not live customer records.

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