Gift certificates

Around International Women’s Day and New Year it is always the same in a salon: people want “something toward a haircut / a massage”, but they do not know which specialist the recipient will go to. A certificate for an amount solves that without dancing around denominations “for a specific service you no longer even have on the price list”.

In SmartBook a certificate is a code, an amount, and a term. Buyer and recipient are written onto the card if you know them. The code can be read out over the phone, sent in a message, or printed. At the visit the receptionist finds the certificate, sees the remaining balance, and redeems the part that is needed. If the haircut is cheaper than the face value — the leftover lives on.

Issuing

The module is turned on in company settings. Then in the certificates section you create an issue: amount, term (or no expiry), who bought it, who it is for. The system invents the code itself — you do not have to pull one out of thin air.

• Any face value. Not tied to a specific service. The recipient chooses the specialist and the treatment themselves.
• Term as you like. Open-ended or until a date. The system will not accept an expired code at redemption.
• Cancellation. If the client changes their mind before it is used, the certificate can be cancelled. Refunding the money is already your internal process; the software does not post that refund by itself.

Redeeming on a visit

On a booking and on a group class the certificate is redeemed for the service amount or for the remaining balance — whichever is smaller. You cannot go into the negative. If the services come to 80 € and the certificate holds 50, the client pays the extra 30. If it is the other way around — a tail stays on the certificate.

In finances, selling a certificate is a separate operation. The visit itself, closed with a certificate, is not put into the till a second time. Otherwise by the end of the month “revenue” inflates, and there is no extra cash in the drawer.

Where to look at balances

The list of certificates with balance, status, and redemption history is in the dashboard. On the client card you can see which certificates are linked to them. If receptionists change by shift, anyone can find the code and not call the person who “remembered the notebook”.