Why gift cards show up as a liability

When a customer buys a gift card, you get the cash right away, but you haven't actually earned it yet — you owe that customer a future rental equal to the card's value. That unredeemed amount is called a liability: money you owe, not money you've kept.

Where to find it

Open Pricing, then Gift cards, for the running total (Outstanding gift card balance). In Reports, the Financial tab shows Gift Card Liability and Gift Card Sales for the period.

How it works

• Outstanding gift card balance — the sum of every active, real (Live) gift card balance that hasn't been redeemed yet. Some of it may be cards you issued free as a comp, so check the Paid column on the list to see what each card actually collected.
• This liability figure reflects money real customers are owed.

For example: if you sell $500 in gift cards this month and customers redeem $150 of that, your liability is $350 — that's the amount still sitting out there as a promise you haven't fulfilled yet.

Good to know

• Voiding a gift card marks it invalid and writes off its remaining balance, so your outstanding balance goes down by that amount and the Written off total goes up. It does not refund the customer.
• For the period-based sales and liability figures used in reporting, see Gift card sales and liability.