# Shopify Gift Cards in Finaloop

Written by Emily Burrows  
May 31, 2026

## **About**
Shopify supports several types of gift cards, and each one impacts your books differently.

Finaloop automatically tracks Shopify gift card activity and applies the correct accounting treatment based on:

- The type of gift card type, and
- Whether your books are on cash basis or accrual basis accounting

This article explains:
- The different types of Shopify gift cards
- How each type impacts your books
- How gift cards are treated under cash vs accrual accounting
- How to use the Shopify Gift Cards page in Finaloop

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## **1. Types of Gift Cards in Shopify**
There are three types of gift cards available in Shopify.

### **Purchased Gift Cards**
A customer purchases a gift card directly through an order in your store.

For example:
- A customer purchases a $100 gift card from your website
- The customer later redeems the gift card to place an order

Because the customer paid cash for the gift card, this creates a financial obligation that needs to be tracked in your books until the card is redeemed.

### **Issued Gift Cards**
You manually issue a gift card to a customer.

For example:
- Customer service compensation
- Loyalty rewards
- Influencer gifting
- Promotional campaigns

No cash is exchanged when these gift cards are issued.

### **Third-Party Gift Cards**
A connected third-party app issues a gift card to your customers.

Examples may include:
- Loyalty apps
- Reward programs
- Referral platforms

From an accounting perspective, Finaloop treats third-party gift cards similarly to issued gift cards.

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## **2. How Finaloop Records Gift Cards**
The accounting treatment depends on:
- The type of gift card
- Whether your books are on accrual basis or cash basis accounting

### **Accrual Basis**
#### **Purchased Gift Cards**
When a customer purchases a gift card:
- Finaloop records the amount as a liability in your Balance Sheet
- The liability is recorded in:
  - Gift card liability - Shopify
- There is no immediate impact to your P&L

Once the customer redeems the gift card:
- The gift card liability decreases
- Revenue is recognized in your P&L
- The sale is recorded like a normal Shopify order

If a purchased gift card later expires or is permanently disabled without being redeemed:
- The gift card liability decreases
- Revenue is recognized in your P&L for the remaining balance.

#### **Issued and Third-Party Gift Cards**
When an issued or third-party gift card is created:
- Nothing is recorded in your books initially
- No liability is created

Once the customer redeems the gift card:
- Finaloop records the redeemed amount as a:
  - Giveaway discount
- Recorded in:
  - Discounts & promotions in your P&L

#### **Your Gift Card Liability Accounts in Finaloop**
To keep your books accurate, Finaloop maintains two gift-card-related accounts on your Balance Sheet:
- **Gift card liability** - the actual outstanding balance of purchased gift cards that customers have not yet redeemed. If you have an open balance when joining Finaloop, we’ll automatically create this account with the accurate opening balance.
- **Uncleared gift card liability** - a temporary clearing account used while Shopify gift card activity is syncing and reconciling.

### **Cash Basis**
#### **Purchased Gift Cards**
For cash basis users:
When the customer purchases the gift card:
- The payment is immediately recorded as Sales in your P&L
- When the gift card is later redeemed:
- There is no additional accounting impact

#### **Issued and Third-Party Gift Cards**
When issued or third-party gift cards are created:
- No accounting entry is recorded
- No liability is created
- No revenue is recognized
  
When the gift card is redeemed:
- Finaloop records the redeemed amount as a:
  - Giveaway discount
- Recorded in:
  - Discounts & promotions in your P&L

---

## **3. Shopify Gift Cards Page in Finaloop**
Finaloop includes a dedicated Shopify Gift Cards page that lets you track:
- Gift card balances
- Redemption activity
- Gift card status
- Purchased vs issued gift cards

You can access the page from: **Orders → Shopify → Shopify gift cards**.

### **Summary Metrics**
At the top of the page, you’ll see summary metrics including:
- **Total number of gift cards:** The total number of gift cards across all stores synced from Shopify.
- **Total gift cards balance:** The combined outstanding redeemable balance across all active gift cards (both purchased and issued).
- **Purchased gift cards (accrual basis only):** The liability you have to your customers specifically related to purchased gift cards.

### **Gift Card Table**
The table includes detailed information for each gift card, including:

|     |     |
| --- | --- |
| **Column** | **Description** |
| Issued date | The date the gift card was created |
| Code ending | The last digits of the gift card code |
| Type | Purchased or Issued (includes cards issued through third-party apps) |
| Store | The Shopify store associated with the gift card |
| Status | Active, Redeemed, Partially Redeemed, Expired, or Deactivated |
| Disabled date | The date the gift card was deactivated or expired |
| Initial value | The original gift card amount |
| Balance as of date | Remaining balance as of the selected reporting date |
| Current balance | The current remaining balance |

### **Gift Card Statuses**
- **Active**: The gift card still has an available balance.
- **Redeemed or Partially Redeemed**: The gift card balance has been fully or partially used.
- **Expired**: The gift card expired and can no longer be redeemed.
- **Deactivated:** The gift card was disabled and can no longer be redeemed.

### **Balance as Of Date**
The Gift Cards page allows you to select a historical balance date.

This lets you view:
- Historical gift card balances
- Outstanding liabilities as of a prior date
- Historical gift card exposure
- Point-in-time reporting for reconciliation purposes

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## **4. Important Notes**
- Purchased gift cards impact your books differently from issued and promotional gift cards.
- Gift card liabilities are only created for purchased gift cards under accrual accounting.
- Issued and third-party gift cards only impact your books when redeemed.
- Gift card balances and statuses sync automatically from Shopify.