topic Donating a gift card to a non profit in Restaurant Operations

Donating a gift card to a non profit

205Coffeebar — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 13:56:03 GMT

As a business we supply a gift card to non profit companies. Is there an easy way to account for this? or to set up so that it does not count as a sale?

Re: Donating a gift card to a non profit

Rob — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 17:29:33 GMT

You might be able to defer the sales, but I'm not sure. Or perhaps use other payment options.

Configure and Report on Deferred Amounts and Sales
Manage Gift Card Sales
Set Up Other Payment Options
Toast Cash, Promo Codes, and Payment Options

Re: Donating a gift card to a non profit

nbunda — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 17:49:38 GMT

Gift card sales are automatically deferred for the amount on the card whenever you issue it. Deferred sales have their own line in the Sales Summary, separate from Sales.

Sounds like you may want to set up discountable gift cards. Toast’s method for this is a little wacky at the moment, but hopefully they can improve it. The only way to discount gift cards currently is to:

1) In Payment Options, at the bottom of the page, change the setting to make gift cards discountable. ***Warning - this will allow ANY check-level discount to apply to a gift card sale*** To account for this, when my restaurant runs a 20% gift card promotion, we require that all gift cards be sold on a separate transaction.

2) Set up a check-level discount, named something like “Non-Profit GC Donation” for 100% off the check. At this point, you can use that discount on any check. To ensure it will only apply to gift cards, you can take it a step further by EXCLUDING EVERY SINGLE MENU AND OPEN ITEM YOU HAVE from the discount eligibility. Gift cards aren’t in your menu, so it has to be done this way. I’m hoping Toast just adds a discount option specific to Gift Cards in the future.

Toast has a guide for this that goes into further detail: Discount Gift Card Purchases In-Store

Re: Donating a gift card to a non profit

nbunda — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 18:01:18 GMT

To follow up, the bottom of the page I linked above has an alternate method that might work better for you. Just set up an alternate payment method called “Gift Card Comp”, ring in the gift card and close the check out using that payment method.

Again, the sales are deferred by default. The actual sales come in when people pay using a gift card. Alternate payment methods, however, do go into Payment Summary, so you’ll be seeing that comp in your payments total if you use this method.