Gift certificates and cards

A gift card in cenaly.ge holds money a guest can spend on future purchases. It works for cafés, shops, salons and other businesses with a POS or storefront. An electronic code and a printed card number access the same kind of balance.

Owners and managers issue cards and monitor liabilities. Cashiers sell certificates, activate printed cards and accept them as payment. Guests can spend the balance over several purchases.

What you need to get started#

• Access to the correct location and Commerce → Gift cards for issuing and managing cards.
• POS access and an open shift to sell a card or top it up.
• A connection to the cloud: the shared balance cannot be redeemed using a cached copy at the till.
• Online payment for storefront redemption; prepared numbers or barcodes for printed cards.

Check the currency before issuing. The till will reject a card in another currency.

Issue an electronic gift card#

Use this when a manager issues a card from the admin panel. Issuing there does not take payment at the till; use the POS sale workflow below for a paid sale.

1. Open Commerce → Gift cards and the Issue a card form.
2. Enter Amount and check Currency.
3. Leave Code (optional) blank for a generated code such as GC-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. Save your own copy first if you supply a code.
4. Fill in Expires and Note if needed. A blank date means no expiry.
5. Click Issue card. Use Copy code, give it to the recipient, then click I saved the code.

Result: the card appears under Issued cards with its opening balance.

A code that has been hidden and was not saved cannot be recovered. Move the lost card's balance to a new card — see Move the balance to a new card.

Prepare printed cards#

A pool of numbers helps staff accept only your printed cards. Adding a batch does not put money on those cards or replace a sale.

1. In Gift cards, open Printed cards and click Add numbers.
2. Enter Batch name. Paste Numbers, one per line or separated by commas.
3. For sequential numbers, use Or a range: Prefix, From, To. Leading zeros are kept.
4. Click Add and check how many numbers were added, already existed or were invalid.
5. Enable Activate only numbers from these batches if cashiers should activate registered numbers only.

You can add up to 2,000 numbers at once and keep up to 10,000 in the pool. A number contains 6–40 characters: Latin letters, digits and hyphens; it must start with a letter or digit.

Result: the numbers are ready for activation after payment at the till. With the restriction off, a number outside the pool can also be activated.

Remove unused removes numbers that have not been activated. Activated cards keep working.

Activate or top up a card at the till#

1. In More, choose Activate / top up card.
2. Scan the barcode into Card number, or type the number, then click Check.
3. Check that the till identifies a new card or shows the balance of an active card.
4. Enter Amount, choose Cash or Card, and take payment using that method.
5. Confirm Activate for … or Top up by ….

Result: the till reports the new balance. A new printed card becomes usable; an existing card gains the paid amount.

If the number is outside the permitted batches, ask the manager to check the pool. Disabled, expired or different-currency cards cannot be topped up.

If the terminal has taken payment but the operation has not finished, follow the till's message and retry that operation using the offered retry. If it reports that activation or the top-up failed and asks for a refund, refund the guest's payment.

Sell an electronic gift card at the till#

1. Open More → 🎁 Sell a gift card.
2. Enter Face value in Sell a gift card.
3. Optionally fill in Recipient e-mail (optional) to send the code by email.
4. Choose cash or card and click Take payment and issue.
5. After confirmed issuance, give the guest the code: save or print it while it is visible. For email delivery, check for Code sent to the recipient.

Result: the guest has a card with the paid face value. The amount remains a liability until it is spent.

If issuance is unconfirmed, do not tell the guest that the card is ready. Check the outcome, especially if the payment terminal has already charged their bank card.

Accept a gift card as payment#

Check the bill first: confirming redemption charges the gift card before the receipt is finally closed.

1. Choose Gift card when paying the bill.
2. Type the code or scan its barcode, then click Check.
3. Check Balance and Valid until. Amount to charge defaults to no more than the card balance or the unpaid bill amount; you can reduce it.
4. Click Charge the card and wait for confirmation of the amount and remaining balance.
5. Repeat with another gift card if needed. Take the remainder using another payment method and complete payment of the bill.

Result: gift cards pay a portion of the bill; they do not reduce item prices as a discount. Unspent money stays on the card.

Gift card payment with a remainder#

For a bill of 70 and a card balance of 50, redeem 50 and take another 20. If the guest wants to keep some gift card balance, redeem 30 and take another 40 instead.

Use a card on the storefront#

At checkout, the guest selects online payment, enters a gift card code and applies it. Several cards can be added; any remainder is paid online.

Checking a code previews the amount available for the order. The server confirms redemption when payment is created; entering a code does not mean the order has been paid.

If the card is not included in the calculation, check the payment method: storefront redemption is unavailable for payment on arrival. Buying a new gift card on the storefront is not available yet.

Check the balance and disable a card#

1. Open Issued cards in the admin panel and locate the card by the visible code ending, date or note.
2. Check Balance, expiry and status.
3. Click Ledger to view dates, amounts and linked orders; Hide ledger collapses the entries.
4. For a lost card or a dispute, click Disable. You can Enable it again once the matter is resolved.

Result: a disabled card cannot be used for new redemption. Disabling it does not refund the guest.

Cashiers can check an active card by code in the payment window without clicking Charge the card. Checking and charging are separate actions.

Move the balance to a new card#

When a guest loses or damages a card, its balance moves to another card in one operation. The owner and the location manager can do it; staff need a separate role right, Adjust gift card balances, in Staff → Roles and access (together with the Commerce section that holds the card list).

1. In Commerce → Gift cards, find the card under Issued cards by code ending, date or note; if in doubt, compare its Ledger with the guest's purchase receipt.
2. Click Move balance.
3. Choose where to move it:
   • New card — the system generates a code — an electronic certificate with a new code;
   • Printed card — enter its number — a plastic card from your batches;
   • Another active card of the guest — the balance is added to that card.
4. Optionally enter a reason (for example, “card lost, purchase receipt #123”) — it goes to the risky operations log — and click the button with the amount, for example Move $25.00.

Result: the old card is blocked with a zero balance and shows Moved to •••1234 in the list; at the till, entering the old code shows “Card blocked: the balance was moved to card •••1234”. The new card gets the whole balance and the old card's expiry date. The code of a new electronic card is shown once — save it as you would on issue.

The liabilities total in Finance does not change: a move is neither a sale nor a redemption. No receipt is printed — the guest's prepayment simply changes cards. A repeated request (double click, lost connection) never moves the money twice, and a card that has already been moved cannot be moved again. The operation appears in Statistics → Risky operations with its author and reason.

Adjust a balance with a reason#

For a compensation to the guest or to fix a mistake — without refunding a receipt.

1. Click Adjust in the card row.
2. Choose Add (compensation) or Deduct (correction) and enter the amount.
3. Enter a reason — the operation is not accepted without one — and click Adjust.

Result: the card balance changes, the Ledger shows “Adjustment: …” with the reason, author and time, and the event goes to Risky operations.

• Adding is a bonus or a gift, not a prepayment: no receipt is printed, and Gift cards outstanding shows it as an adjustment, not under Issued. You cannot add to a blocked or expired card.
• Deducting gives no money back, so it is not a receipt either; the balance cannot go below zero. To give the guest money back, refund the certificate by its sale receipt.

View liabilities and receipts#

In Finance, find Gift cards outstanding for the current outstanding balance, Issued, Redeemed and Cards.

These values do not follow the selected reporting period. They answer “how much is left on cards now”, not “how many gift cards were sold this month”. Use the card's ledger for individual transactions.

On cenaly.ru, the POS treats selling a gift card as an advance payment and redemption as an advance offset in the purchase receipt. This depends on the connected fiscal device: if it does not support the extended payment type, the POS uses “other”. See Gift card receipts.

If you have several locations#

A card belongs to the location that issued it. The same code at another location does not access that balance: the cashier sees “Card not found” when checking it for payment. There is no shared network balance.

In Commerce, select the location above the tabs before opening Gift cards. Issue cards separately for each location and tell guests where they can spend them. Switch to the issuing location to inspect a card. Liabilities belong to the issuing location. However, Finance sums cards from available locations by currency: a combined report does not make cards spendable across the network.

Quick guide: what to do#

Refund an unused certificate#

Refunding the money and closing the card is one till operation.

1. POS → Receipts → find the certificate sale receipt (a “Gift certificate” line paid in cash or by card).
2. Click ↩ Refund. The certificate line is already filled in and the refund method matches how the certificate was paid.
3. Click Confirm refund. The till reads the card balance and asks: “$12.00 goes back to the guest for receipt #58. Certificate ••1234 will be closed”. If part of the certificate has been spent, the window says only the remaining balance is refunded.
4. Click Refund and close.

Result: the card is closed — checking the code at the till or on the storefront returns Card is disabled, and the card ledger shows a refund entry. Liabilities in Finance drop by exactly the refunded balance. The money goes out the usual refund way: cash as a payout from the shift drawer, card as a refund on the bank terminal. On cenaly.ru the till prints a “refund of receipt” with the “advance” attribute, the same as the sale receipt (advance payment guide).

Clicking again or retrying after a lost connection does not refund twice: the till finds the same card closure with the same amount. A cloud connection is required — without it the till warns you and refunds nothing.

The Android, Windows and Linux tills refund a certificate the same way: Receipts → the sale receipt → Refund → Issue refund → the amount window → Refund and close. The card is closed before the refund is recorded and before any money is paid out. If closing fails, the till says so and pays nothing. If the balance changed while the window was open, the till stops the refund — open it again. These tills do not refund to a bank terminal: with the Card method, return the money on the terminal by hand, as with any refund on these tills.

Do not pay the balance out as cash “change” and do not disable the card instead of refunding: without this operation the money and the card go out of sync.

A ₽3,000 card: two purchases#

Assume a card was sold at the till for ₽3,000, with no other discounts or payments.

1. Sell the card for ₽3,000. On cenaly.ru the till issues an advance receipt for that amount.
2. For the first ₽1,800 purchase, select Gift card, enter the code and click Check. Balance is ₽3,000 and Amount to charge is ₽1,800. After Charge the card, ₽1,200 remains. Complete payment: the purchase receipt lists ₽1,800 of goods and an advance offset of ₽1,800.
3. For the second ₽1,500 purchase, the balance is ₽1,200 and the suggested charge is ₽1,200. Charging leaves ₽0 on the card and ₽300 due. Take that amount as Cash and complete payment. One purchase receipt contains the ₽1,200 advance offset and ₽300 cash payment.

Result: the card is spent across two visits; the extra payment is not a separate purchase. If the balance differs, inspect the ledger before charging. On cenaly.ru this requires a fiscal register supporting advance payments and offsets; devices without extended payment types use “other”, as explained above.

Limitations#

• Bonus face value is unavailable: “pay ₽5,000, receive ₽6,000” cannot be configured.
• There is no shared network balance: a balance can only move between cards of the same location.
• An added adjustment is redeemed at the till like the rest of the card balance (as prepayment offset on the receipt): cards do not yet keep a separate “bonus” part.
• The balance is paid out only by refunding the whole certificate (the card is closed): there is no partial cash-out from a live card. Top-ups above the sale receipt's face value cannot be refunded separately — they stay on the card.
• The storefront accepts cards with online payment but does not sell new cards.
• There is no bulk issuance of cards with balances. Printed batches only prepare numbers.
• There is no wholesale sale to a legal entity with an invoice.
• There is no “sold during the period” report or gift card statistics export.
• A confirmed redemption cannot simply be removed from an open bill; it requires a refund.
• A lost full code cannot be recovered; a replacement is a separate card.
• Sales, activation, top-ups and redemption need the cloud; offline balance spending is unavailable.

Troubleshooting#

FAQ#

Can a guest spend just part of the balance?#

Yes. Set the amount at the till; the remaining balance stays for later purchases. This workflow does not pay out gift card change in cash.

Can several gift cards pay one bill?#

Yes. Check and apply each card separately, then pay the remaining amount.

Does adding a batch issue paid cards immediately?#

No. A batch registers numbers. The balance is added on paid activation at the till.

Why does issuance not increase sales revenue?#

A gift card represents an obligation to the guest. Goods or services are sold when the guest spends it. View the current unused amount in Finance.

Will another of our locations accept the card?#

No. It belongs to the issuing location; another till shows “Card not found”. Select the issuing location to inspect or manage it.

What should we do if a guest loses a card?#

Find it by code ending, date or note, inspect Balance and Ledger and click Move balance: the old card is blocked and the whole balance moves to a new one. The old full code cannot be recovered, and it is not needed. Repeating the move will not duplicate the balance.

Can a card include a bonus?#

No. Paid face value and an extra bonus cannot be configured separately; “pay ₽5,000 for ₽6,000 on the card” is unavailable.

Related sections#

• POS — payment and cashier workflows.
• Commerce — commercial settings.
• Memberships and service packages — visits and balances for a specific guest.
• Gift card receipts — cenaly.ru specifics.
• Discounts, promo codes and points at the till — how a discount differs from paying with a gift card.
• Reports — where to find revenue and financial figures.