Must know
- Issuing needs the Create Financials permission. The guardian’s Gift Cards tab only shows when your plan includes Gift Cards (check Settings > Organization > Features, and contact support if it isn’t included) and you have the View Financials permission.
- Cash and Check need a guardian recipient. Someone else can get only a comp card or a charge to this guardian’s saved payment method, and that guardian is billed.
- Cash, Check and saved-method charges book a paid invoice. They fail before any charge if your club has no active default Gift Card Liability (2200) GL code. Comp is never blocked.
- A Buyer chooses amount design with no maximum is capped at 10,000.00.
1
Pick a card
Under Card, choose an active design, or Custom card to name a one-off card, set its restrictions, and set Transferable.
2
Set the amount
A fixed-amount design locks Amount. Other designs stay within their limits.
3
Choose the recipient
Pick this guardian or Someone else (email required). If the email already has an account, the card attaches right away and is Active. Otherwise it stays Pending until claimed.
4
Limit to an athlete (optional)
Shows when the card can pay for programs, the recipient is this guardian, and they have an athlete on file. The guardian must be able to register that athlete, or you see “That athlete isn’t linked to this guardian.”
5
Add From, Message and Staff note (optional)
From and Message appear in the recipient’s email. Staff note (up to 2,000 characters) stays on the card for staff only.
6
Record how the giver paid
Under How did the giver pay?, choose Comp (no payment), Cash, Check or Charge saved payment method. A charge runs first, so a decline creates no card. Bank accounts are greyed out (“not available for gift cards”).
7
Issue it
The footer previews it, such as “Issue $50.00 card to Jane Doe - Cash”. Click Issue gift card.
Choosing Someone else resets Cash or Check to Comp. The saved-method list always shows this guardian’s saved payment methods, even for Someone else.
How it is booked. A paid card creates a paid, untaxed invoice on your normal invoice numbering, posted to Gift Card Liability. A comp card adds a Goodwill & Comps entry against Gift Card Liability, only if both default codes exist. Add missing ones under Settings > Financials > Ledgers.
What happens next. You see “Gift card issued” and the dialog closes. A failure shows the reason (a declined charge, say) or “Couldn’t issue the gift card”. The recipient is emailed a link to view or claim the card, unless you switched off Gift card delivered, resent or reassigned under Settings > Communication > Notifications > System Rules. With the Edit Financials permission, each card row on the tab (except a cancelled one) has a menu with Lock card or Unlock card, and Cancel card. The detail panel says Staff-issued; Financials shows Source Admin.
Ask Hero. Hero can prepare a comp, cash or check card for you to confirm, only from an active design in your catalog (if none fits, it proposes creating one first). It cannot charge a saved payment method.
Related: How do I create and design a gift card to sell? · How do I lock a gift card, resend its claim email, or fix the recipient? · How do I cancel a gift card, and how is that different from locking it? · What are GL codes and my chart of accounts?