A gift card is a liability, not a sale. You have been paid for work you have not done, often by somebody who is not the person who will turn up, and the obligation sits with you until it is redeemed. Treat the money accordingly — spending it the week it arrives is how a busy December becomes a difficult January.
Sell an amount rather than a named service wherever you can. A card for a specific service is a promise at today's price that you may be honouring in eighteen months, after your prices have moved and possibly after you have stopped offering it.
Decide these before the first one goes out, and print them on the card:
- What it can be spent on, and whether it covers retail as well as services
- Whether it can be used against part of a bill, and what happens to the remainder
- Whether a deposit is still required when booking with one
- Whether it is transferable
- Expiry, if any — and check your local rules, because many places restrict or forbid expiry on gift cards
Keep a list of what has been sold and what has been redeemed. Without it you cannot know what you owe, and an unrecorded card turning up a year later is an argument you will lose in front of the person holding it.
Money for a gift card goes to you directly, like every other payment — Friday Scheduling is not in the flow. Which also means the promise on the card is yours alone to keep.