Giftcards

The Giftcards module manages prepaid balances customers can spend on future purchases. Every giftcard is locked the moment it is created: its details cannot be modified or deleted, only its active status can be flipped to take it out of circulation. Gem Logic supports two ways to issue one.

Issuing a giftcard on a sale

Use this flow when a customer is buying the giftcard.

  1. Open or create a sale.

  2. In the sale’s item card, open the Add item dropdown and click Add giftcard.

  3. Fill in:

    • Initial balance - the value loaded onto the giftcard.

    • Unique code - auto-generated, but can be customized (stored in uppercase).

    • Expiration date - optional. After this date the giftcard cannot be used.

  4. Click Add giftcard. A line item is added to the sale for the initial balance.

  5. Complete the sale by adding a payment (cash, card, transfer, etc.).

The giftcard inherits the sale’s currency and the sale’s contact automatically. As soon as the sale is created the giftcard is linked to it, and from that point on the giftcard’s details are locked.

Issuing a giftcard manually

Use this flow for giveaways, store credit, manual goodwill gestures, or anything that does not flow through a sale.

  1. Open the Giftcards list.

  2. Click Create giftcard.

  3. Fill in initial balance, currency, unique code, and (optionally) an expiration date or contact.

  4. Save - the giftcard is active and spendable immediately.

Manually issued giftcards behave the same as sold ones: they are locked from creation, deletion is blocked, and only the active toggle can be flipped afterwards (and that flip is logged on the giftcard).

Using giftcards as payment

Giftcards can be used as a payment method on any order in Gem Logic. This includes:

  • Sales

  • Repairs

  • Memos

  • Creations

To pay with a giftcard:

  1. Open the sale, repair, memo, or creation and go to the transactions section.

  2. Click Add transaction.

  3. Select Giftcard as the payment method.

  4. Enter the giftcard code.

  5. Enter the amount to pay.

The system validates the giftcard at payment time:

  • The giftcard code exists.

  • The giftcard is active.

  • The giftcard has sufficient balance.

  • The giftcard is not expired.

If valid, the amount is deducted from the giftcard balance and applied to the order. The same giftcard can be used multiple times across different orders until its balance reaches zero or it expires.

Balance tracking

Every giftcard keeps its own running balance. There is no need to track this manually:

Current balance = Initial balance - Sum of all transactions paid with the giftcard

Each time the giftcard is used to pay for a sale, repair, memo, or creation, the transaction is recorded against the giftcard and the balance is updated automatically. The giftcard detail page shows the current balance and the full list of transactions that used the card, so you can always see where the value went.

If the customer tries to pay an amount higher than the remaining balance, the system caps the transaction at whatever balance is left on the card so it can never go negative.

Tamper protection

Because a giftcard represents real money, Gem Logic locks every detail of a giftcard the moment it is issued. This protects you, your staff, and your customers, and gives you a clean audit trail:

  • The initial balance, currency, unique code, expiration date, contact, and linked sale cannot be changed after issuance.

  • A giftcard cannot be deleted, so a used card can never silently disappear from the system.

  • The only allowed change is activating or deactivating the giftcard. Every activation and deactivation is automatically logged on the giftcard with the date and the user who did it.

If a giftcard was issued with the wrong amount or details, the correct workflow is to deactivate it and issue a new one (either on a sale or manually). Both giftcards stay in the system, and the deactivation log explains what happened.

Value vouchers

When a sale has a negative outstanding amount (customer overpaid), you can create a value voucher (giftcard) for the difference. The voucher is automatically linked to the sale that overpaid, inherits that sale’s contact and currency, and is locked the same way as a regular giftcard.

Documents and printing

From the giftcard detail page, you can:

  • Create document: Generate a PDF document for the giftcard.

  • Print receipt: Print a receipt ticket on a configured receipt printer.

  • Email: Send the giftcard document to the contact via email.

Browsing existing giftcards

The Giftcards list shows every giftcard that has ever been issued, with its code, balance, expiration, owning contact, and the sale that issued it. Use the list to search by code or contact, or to deactivate a giftcard that should no longer be redeemable.