Chain Gift Cards – Sold at One Unit, Redeemed at Another

One of the most requested franchise use cases: sell a gift card at HQ and let it be redeemed at any franchise unit. Vendion's chain gift cards solve this with correct intercompany accounting between different legal entities.

The problem

Traditionally in Swedish franchising:

• Customer buys 1,000 SEK gift card at HQ (one company)
• Customer redeems 600 SEK at unit A (another company, different org number)
• Remaining 400 SEK at unit B (third company)

Without the right system: 3 companies, three different economic events, hard to settle between them. Traditionally solved with manual invoices between companies.

Vendion's solution: chain-scoped gift cards

Every gift card in Vendion has a "scope" that determines where it can be redeemed:

• Local card → redeemable only where it was sold (traditional)
• Chain card → redeemable at all member restaurants in the chain

Prerequisite

The feature activates only if "Shared gift cards" is enabled in chain settings. On by default for types franchise and holding.

Selling a chain gift card in POS

The feature is a toggle in the sell dialog:

1. POS at any unit (e.g. HQ) → "Sell gift card"
2. Dialog opens:
   • Amount: 1,000 SEK
   • Expiry: 12 months from today
   • Payment method: Card
   • Toggle: "Valid across the chain" (new)
3. Click "Sell"

If the restaurant is in a chain with shared gift cards enabled, the card is marked as a chain card. Otherwise it becomes a regular local card.

Redeeming at another unit

When the customer arrives at a member restaurant to redeem:

1. POS → order total 600 SEK → "Add payment"
2. Choose "Gift card"
3. Scan/enter code
4. System looks up the card – first locally, then across the chain
5. If found + active + not expired:
   • 600 SEK deducted from balance
   • A payment entry is created
   • If issuing and redeeming units are different legal entities: an intercompany transaction is automatically registered for month-end

Intercompany accounting

When cards are redeemed across different companies, accounting entries are auto-created at day-end or month-end. See Intercompany Accounting Settlements for details.

Example: HQ sale + double redemption

• HQ (org 555-1234) sells 1,000 SEK card on April 1
• Restaurant A (org 555-5678) redeems 400 SEK on April 15
• Restaurant B (org 555-9999) redeems 600 SEK on April 28

Accounting entries (simplified):

(BAS accounts can be customized in chain settings – default 1660/2860.)

Settlement between companies

When cards are redeemed across org numbers, pending intercompany transactions are created. Once per month (typically last bank day):

1. Z-report finalization or scheduled batch run
2. Pending transactions collected
3. Auto vouchers in each company's bookkeeping
4. Chain accountant reviews at /chain/:slug/bokforing
5. Exports SIE/CSV for bookkeeper
6. Marks "Reconciled" once payment sent between companies

Visibility and access

• Restaurant member → sees local cards + all cards redeemed at their place
• Chain member → sees all chain cards in their chain
• Guest → only sees their own card via the code

Chain gift cards page

At /chain/:slug/presentkort:

• Table of all chain cards: code, issued, initial amount, balance, status, scope, expiry
• KPIs:
  • Active cards (count)
  • Outstanding liability (sum of balances)
  • Chain-shared cards (count)

No sales from chain page in MVP – always via POS. Chain page is overview only.

Edge cases

Cards when a chain is terminated: if a chain is terminated while cards still have balance, access is blocked. Future offboarding flow will zero out remaining balance and create a refund voucher.

Expired card: like regular cards – if expiry date has passed, redemption fails. Balance booked as revenue at issuer (per Swedish practice) or remains liability depending on corporate decision.

Partial redemption: 1,000 SEK card can be redeemed in any number of parts until balance is 0.

Next step: Intercompany Accounting Settlements.