Outstanding Liabilities shows how much unspent gift card and credit value your customers still hold. Customers can still spend this value with you, so you need to know the total and plan for it.
Why outstanding liabilities matter
When you sell a gift card, the customer has paid you for wine or other goods you haven't supplied yet. That money isn't spare cash: you owe the customer goods to that value until the gift card is spent or expires. Credit you give customers is also a promise you need to honour.
Keep track of your outstanding liabilities, and manage your cash flow so you can supply the goods when customers spend their gift cards and credit.
Don't treat gift card money as money that's free to spend.
Ask your accountant how to record gift card sales and credit in your accounts.
Gift cards have legal minimum expiry periods. See How long does credit last before it expires?.
This is general information only, not legal, financial or accounting advice. Get advice from your accountant or a lawyer about your obligations where you sell.
Where to find outstanding liabilities
Go to Settings > Loyalty & Credit.
Scroll down to the Outstanding Liabilities section.
What the Outstanding Liabilities section shows
Outstanding activated gift cards: the unspent value of gift cards that have been sold but not yet redeemed to a customer's account.
Outstanding customer account balance: the unspent credit in customers' accounts.
Total: the two amounts added together. Nothing is counted twice.
How a gift card moves from one amount to the other
A gift card counts toward Outstanding activated gift cards from the time it's sold. When the gift card is redeemed to a customer's account, its value becomes credit in that account and moves to Outstanding customer account balance.
Example: you sell a $100 gift card. The $100 counts toward Outstanding activated gift cards. The customer redeems the gift card to their account, so the $100 now counts toward Outstanding customer account balance instead.
Customers can also spend a gift card at your cellar door without redeeming it to their account. When your staff scan the gift card in point of sale (POS), WithWine turns the gift card into credit and spends it on the order straight away, so the gift card never sits in Outstanding customer account balance. The order's payment type shows as credit balance, not gift card. The gift card's details are included in the CSV export on the Orders screen.
How to see the details
Go to Settings > Loyalty & Credit.
In the Outstanding Liabilities section, select View Liabilities Details.
The Liabilities Details page lists each gift card and piece of credit, with these columns: Gift Card Created, Credit Created, Expiry, Gift Card Code, Source Order, Gift Card Amount, Credit Balance, Credit Source, Credit Class, Credit Comment, Credit Issued By, Credit Email and Balance Expired.
How to export the details
Go to Settings > Loyalty & Credit.
In the Outstanding Liabilities section, select Export Liabilities Details.
WithWine downloads a CSV file with the same details as the Liabilities Details page. You can open the CSV file in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers, or give it to your accountant.