Loyalty Points in Accounting — Revenue Reduction or Liability?

What happens when a guest earns points?

Vendion records the guest's points balance and points history. Earning points does not automatically create an accounting voucher or a liability in the chart of accounts. The purchase is recorded from its sales and payment as usual.

This describes the system's behavior. It does not determine whether your business needs a separate accounting assessment of its loyalty program. Ask your accountant to assess that using the program's terms and your company's reporting framework.

Example: a purchase that earns points

Assume the program awards 1 point per qualifying SEK and a guest pays SEK 500 for food served at the restaurant with 12% VAT. The entire purchase qualifies in this example.

The guest earns 500 points, but the voucher receives no additional line for their future redemption value. These account numbers are Vendion defaults; use your restaurant's chart when reconciling.

The actual points awarded depend on the earning rate, membership tier and excluded purchases. Alcohol and selected menu groups can be excluded from earning.

Redemption differs between POS and online

You therefore cannot reconcile every points redemption as the same kind of discount. Read the order's receipt, payments and accounting records together. The central chart's default account for the loyalty payment method is 3731. A separate loyalty amount in accounting does not mean a liability was recorded when the points were earned.

See Loyalty redemption accounting for examples of both flows.

Where do you configure the program?

Go to Admin → Marknadsföring → Lojalitet → Inställningar (Loyalty → Settings). The settings include:

• Lojalitetsprogram – the switch activates the program.
• Poängtakt (points per SEK 100) – for example, 100 means 1 point per SEK.
• Tjäna poäng på alkohol and Exkludera menygrupper från poäng – control which purchases earn points.
• Poäng utgår efter – the points validity period in months.
• Värde per poäng (öre), Minsta inlösen (poäng) and Max inlösen (% av ordern) – control redemption value and limits.

Click Spara inställningar (Save settings) when finished. Default values may differ from your restaurant's current configuration. If your restaurant uses shared chain loyalty, follow the page's link to the chain settings.

Guests and their balances are under Lojalitet → Medlemmar (Members). Configure the payment account separately under Admin → Bokföring → Verifikat & export → Kontoplan (Accounting → Vouchers & export → Chart of accounts).

How this differs from gift cards

A sold gift card means the restaurant has received payment for value to be used later. Vendion's gift card flow therefore uses a liability account, normally 2421, at sale. Earned loyalty points work differently: the guest does not purchase points in this flow, and Vendion does not automatically record a liability when points are earned.

When points expire, they can no longer be used under the program's terms. Since earning did not create an automatic liability, Vendion has no such liability entry to reverse on expiry. Any manual closing adjustments should be handled with your accountant.

How to reconcile

1. Check the points event and guest balance under Lojalitet → Medlemmar.
2. Open the relevant purchase and check whether the points were used as a POS discount or an online payment.
3. Compare the payment methods in the daily close and voucher.
4. Check the loyalty account in the chart if online redemption is posted somewhere unexpected.
5. Give your accountant the program terms and accounting records if outstanding points need a separate valuation.

Do not manually change previous sales simply because a points balance remains. Points balances, remaining gift card value and booked liabilities are different records that need to be reconciled separately.