A voucher from two Christmases ago
An owner hands over a paper gift voucher at checkout. It was a present two Christmases ago. The receptionist looks for it in the voucher book: there is an entry, but no note of whether it has been used. The voucher has no expiry date written on it, and your policy on that has changed since.
Another owner bought a package of six bath-and-tidy visits for their older dog. They think they have two left. The spreadsheet says one. The receptionist does not know who is right.
A third voucher is presented with a number that does not appear in the book at all.
At the year end, your accountant asks how much you owe in unused vouchers and packages. Nobody can say.
December makes it worse. Vouchers sell well as presents, often bought in a hurry by someone who is not a client, for a dog you have never met. The book fills up with names you do not recognise, and the vouchers come back in ones and twos over the following year, when nobody remembers selling them.
Prepaid grooming lives in a book
Vouchers and packages are money received for grooms not yet done. They are simple to sell and surprisingly hard to track on paper.
- Vouchers have handwritten numbers that can be copied.
- Redemption is not always recorded against the voucher.
- Packages are tracked in a spreadsheet separate from the booking app.
- Expiry dates and terms are not consistent.
- The outstanding total is unknown.
Double redemptions and awkward disputes
Without proper tracking, some vouchers are honoured twice and some packages are disputed. Owners who believe they have a visit left and are told otherwise are upset, and the salon usually gives in. Your accountant needs the outstanding balance, and without it the books take longer to close.
How we build voucher and package tracking
- Vouchers are sold online or at the desk with a unique code, printed or emailed with your design, amount and any expiry your terms set.
- At checkout, the code is entered or scanned. The system checks it is valid, deducts the amount and shows the remaining balance.
- Packages are attached to the dog's record: number of visits, service, price paid and expiry if any.
- Each visit that uses a package is deducted automatically at checkout, and the owner receives a message with how many visits remain.
- Balances can be checked by owners through a link, so they are not guessing.
- A report shows outstanding vouchers and packages at any date, for you and your accountant.
| Question | Today | With tracking |
|---|---|---|
| Has this voucher been used? | Check the book | Code checked at once |
| How many visits are left? | Spreadsheet versus owner's memory | Balance on the dog's record |
| Is this voucher real? | Unknown | Only valid codes are accepted |
| How much do we owe in prepaid grooms? | Unknown | Outstanding report |
Your voucher terms, expiry rules and how prepaid income is treated in your accounts are decisions for you and your accountant. We record and apply what you set.
Vouchers and packages without the book
Voucher buyers who are new to you are captured as contacts, so when the voucher is redeemed you already have the owner's details, and the dog can be registered before its first visit.
The receptionist scans a voucher code and the balance appears. The package owner sees two visits left on their record, which matches what they received after the last visit. At the year end, the outstanding report goes to the accountant in a minute.
Do you recognise this?
- Gift vouchers are tracked in a book.
- You are not sure whether some vouchers have been used.
- Package balances are disputed.
- Vouchers have handwritten numbers.
- You do not know how much prepaid grooming you owe.