Many businesses accept vouchers they did not issue themselves: works council vouchers, municipal vouchers or tokens such as a town's "City Tenner", meal vouchers, or credit from another system. Create a separate payment method for each kind of voucher. The voucher can then pay all or part of a bill, and its redemptions show up separately in your reports. This guide covers the setup, taking payment and the reporting.
This guide describes the setup in bessa and is not tax advice. Please check with your tax advisor how vouchers from a third-party issuer are to be treated for tax purposes.
The principle: one payment method per kind of voucher
At your Sales Point, a voucher from a third-party issuer is a means of payment like cash or card. The sale itself does not change: you book the articles as usual, and only the payment runs fully or partly through the voucher.
A separate payment method for each kind of voucher gives you:
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Partial payment: the voucher covers part of the bill, and the guest pays the rest in cash or by card.
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Separate reporting: each payment method appears under its name in the reports and in the Sales Point closing. You see how much came in through which kind of voucher in any period, and can settle up with the issuer.
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Its own accounting account: each payment method can carry its own account number for the tax export.
Which type to choose
Besides its name, a payment method has a type that cannot be changed after it has been created. Two types are suitable for third-party vouchers, because only these can be created more than once: Card payment (manual) and Cash.
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|
Card payment (manual) |
Cash |
|---|---|---|
|
Cash journal |
Not included |
The amount counts towards the expected cash in the drawer |
|
Cash drawer |
Does not open |
Opens as for a cash payment |
|
Excess amount when splitting |
Booked as a tip |
Shown as change |
|
Suited for |
Vouchers and credits that do not go into the drawer or are settled separately |
Tokens or notes you put into the drawer and count like cash |
Our recommendation: Card payment (manual). Vouchers are usually not part of your cash. With the Cash type, the expected cash in the cash journal rises by the voucher value. When you count the drawer, exactly that amount is then missing, unless you count the vouchers as cash. Only choose Cash if that is how you deliberately want to handle them.
Why not the "Voucher" type? The voucher types belong to the local vouchers of the bessa Kassa (Voucher Management module), which you use to sell and redeem your own vouchers (see Vouchers at the Sales Point). Each voucher type can also only be created once, so you cannot create one payment method per issuer.
Step 1: Create the payment methods
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In bessa Manager, open Master Data → Payment Methods and create a new payment method.
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Choose Card payment (manual) as the type, or Cash if you handle the voucher as cash (see above).
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Give it a clear name, e.g. "City Tenner", "Works council voucher Example Ltd" or "Meal voucher". Your staff see this name at the Sales Point, and it appears on the invoice and in the reports.
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If needed, enter an account number for the tax export, see Export Data.
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Repeat these steps for each further kind of voucher.
Better one payment method too many than one too few. Whatever lands in the same payment method can no longer be told apart in the reports.
Step 2: Tiles for fixed-value vouchers (optional)
If a voucher has a fixed value, e.g. €10, a tile on the order screen can book it with a single tap. Under Displays, create a tile of type Function with the kind Payment:
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Payment method: the voucher payment method, e.g. "City Tenner".
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Absolute amount: the voucher value, e.g.
10. -
Name: e.g. "City Tenner €10".
Also create tiles without an amount for the remaining payment, e.g. "Rest cash" with the payment method Cash and "Rest card" with your card payment method. Without them the rest cannot be collected, as the next section shows.
Please note:
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The tiles only work when booking directly at the Sales Point. When booking onto a table or a room, and when paying a table, they have no effect. There you collect payment via Split (step 3, option B).
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Tiles of kind Payment require bessa Kassa 6.1 or newer.
Step 3: Take payment at the Sales Point
Example: the bill comes to €15.20. The guest pays with a €10 City Tenner and the rest in cash.
Option A: with the tile (direct booking)
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Book the articles as usual.
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Tap the City Tenner €10 tile. The cart shows a line of −€10.00, and €5.20 is still open.
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Tap the Rest cash tile. The Sales Point books both payments together and closes the invoice.
If the guest redeems two vouchers, tap the voucher tile twice. If the voucher is worth more than the bill, it is only counted up to the bill total, and no change is given for it.
As soon as a voucher is prepared, the Sales Point hides the usual payment method buttons and Split. Instead it shows the action Book prepared payments with the hint Still open: amount. Collect the open rest with a tile without an amount, e.g. "Rest cash". If you want to take payment differently after all, remove the voucher line from the cart again. Details under Close Out and Pay.
Option B: via "Split" (variable amounts, tables and rooms)
Use this option when the voucher has no fixed value, e.g. a remaining credit, when you have not created a tile, or when you settle a table.
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Tap the payment method and choose Split.
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Choose the City Tenner payment method and enter
10. -
Choose Cash and enter
5.20, or the amount the guest hands over in cash. The Sales Point then shows the change. -
Confirm with Pay.
When splitting onto a voucher payment method of type Card payment (manual), enter exactly the voucher value. A higher amount is not booked as change but as a tip.
Step 4: Report on redemptions
The voucher payment methods appear under their names wherever revenue is broken down by payment method:
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Sales Point closing: the total per payment method is on the daily closing, see Sales Point Closings.
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Reports: the Payment method/Article group report type shows revenue per payment method for any period you choose, see Reports. Use it, for example, for the monthly settlement with the municipality or the works council.
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Accounting: with an account number set, the amounts land in the right account in the tax export.
Frequently asked questions
Can I combine a voucher with card and cash? Yes. When splitting, you can record as many payment methods as you like. With tiles, tap the voucher first and then the tile without an amount for the payment method that covers the rest. Each invoice can carry at most one payment through a connected card terminal.
Where do I see which voucher was redeemed on which invoice? The invoice lists each partial amount with the name of its payment method. You find the individual invoices in the invoice list in bessa Manager, see Invoices.
Do staff see the new payment method right away? The payment method must be visible in bessa Manager (eye icon), and the staff member needs the permission for that payment method type, see User Roles and Permissions Management.
Troubleshooting
The voucher tile does nothing. Check whether you are booking onto a table or a room, or paying a table. Payment tiles have no effect there. Collect payment via Split.
After the voucher, the rest cannot be collected. A tile without an amount for the remaining payment is missing. Create one, e.g. "Rest cash", or remove the voucher line from the cart and collect payment via Split.
Cash is missing from the drawer at the Sales Point closing. The voucher payment method is probably of type Cash, so its amount counts towards the expected cash. Create the payment method again with the type Card payment (manual) and hide the old one. The type of an existing payment method cannot be changed.