A voucher for a dinner, bed and breakfast stay that no longer exists
In December, a customer bought a gift voucher for a dinner, bed and breakfast stay for two, as a present for her parents. It was sold on your website through a voucher platform, and the details went into a spreadsheet the reservations manager keeps. In May, the parents ring to book. The package on the voucher was changed in March and the three-course dinner is now two courses plus a glass of wine. Reception is not sure what to honour.
The same week, a voucher for afternoon tea is redeemed in the restaurant. Nobody marks it on the spreadsheet. Two weeks later the same voucher code is presented again, by a friend of the person who received it, and the restaurant accepts it because the code looks valid.
Why voucher tracking gets messy
Vouchers touch several parts of the hotel: they are sold online, booked through reservations or the restaurant, redeemed at the desk or the till, and accounted for in the finance system. Each part has its own system and none of them owns the voucher.
- Voucher platforms issue the code, but redemption happens in your PMS or EPOS.
- Packages change over time, while vouchers promise what was on sale when they were bought.
- Partial redemptions (a monetary voucher used across a stay and dinner) are hard to track.
- Expiry dates, extensions and exceptions are decided case by case.
- Accounts need to know the value of unredeemed vouchers, which the spreadsheet does not show reliably.
What loose voucher records cost
Vouchers redeemed twice are money lost. Arguments about what a voucher includes damage a gift that was meant to be a pleasure, and the guest remembers. Reservations and restaurant staff spend time searching spreadsheets and emails for the terms of a voucher sold last year.
For the accounts, an uncertain figure for unredeemed vouchers makes month-end harder, and your accountant will ask how it was worked out.
Christmas makes all of this worse. Vouchers sell in large numbers in the weeks before, many as last-minute presents, and a surge of redemptions follows in spring. The spreadsheet that just about coped in October is overwhelmed by January, and that is when the double redemptions and forgotten terms tend to happen.
How we build a voucher record for the whole hotel
- Every voucher sold, through a voucher platform, your website or at the desk, is recorded with its code, what it covers as sold, its value, purchase date and expiry.
- The terms as sold are frozen on the voucher, so if the package changes later, staff can see exactly what was promised.
- When reservations books a voucher stay, the voucher is attached to the PMS booking and marked as booked. Restaurant voucher bookings are attached in the table booking system.
- At redemption, the desk or the till checks the code against the record. A code already redeemed shows as used, with when and where.
- Monetary vouchers show the remaining balance after each use.
- Expiry reminders go to voucher holders before the date, if you choose, and the accounts view shows outstanding voucher value at any time.
| Voucher | Status | What staff see |
|---|---|---|
| Dinner, bed and breakfast for two | Booked for May | Terms as sold in December, including the three-course dinner |
| Afternoon tea for two | Redeemed | Redeemed on a set date in the restaurant, cannot be reused |
| Monetary voucher | Part used | Balance remaining after the spa treatment |
| Overnight stay | Expiring next month | Reminder sent to holder |
If you already use a voucher platform, we connect to it rather than replacing it. The record sits between the platform and your PMS and EPOS.
What changes at the desk and the till
When the parents ring to book, reception sees the voucher, the package exactly as sold, and books it against the stay. On arrival, the restaurant knows it is a three-course dinner. When the afternoon tea code comes back a second time, the till shows it was used, when and by whom.
At month-end, the accounts team takes the outstanding voucher figure from the record instead of rebuilding it from a spreadsheet.
Signs your vouchers are out of control
- Voucher details are kept in a spreadsheet.
- A voucher has been redeemed twice.
- Staff are unsure what an old voucher includes.
- Monetary voucher balances are worked out by hand.
- The value of unredeemed vouchers is hard to state at month-end.