The following article outlines and answers some frequently asked questions about Arlo's Vouchers feature.
The key difference between a voucher and a discount is that a voucher has a balance and once that balance is expended/redeemed the voucher no longer works, whereas Discounts on can be used indefinitely, provided that the discount is available and the registrant qualifies for the said discount.
Arlo does not currently have a voucher import feature.
There isn't a way to directly sell vouchers through your website. You will need to either sell them externally, or use an elearning module to sell them.
Tips when using elearning to sell vouchers
- Using this method will work just like a normal elearning module but instead of users registering for a module, they will register to receive a voucher.
- Set your elearning module to be tax free (otherwise customers will be charged double tax - once when buying the voucher and again when using the voucher).
- In the General section of the elearning wizard, you can change the Terminology to voucher(s).
- Add a dummy URL (eg: http://www.test.com) to allow you to pass the Content section.
- In the Communication section, edit the Registrant elearning instructions and remove the [OnlineActivityURL] replacer.
Vouchers will not be automatically created - you need to manually create them when an order comes through.
If your voucher has an order attached to it, by default the invoices include the voucher code, so your purchaser can get their voucher code this way. However, if you choose to remove the voucher code from the invoices (to avoid use of the voucher before payment is made) you would need to email the voucher recipient to advise them of their voucher code, as they are not automatically emailed to the purchaser.
There are a number of reports that you can use the report on vouchers. Which report you would use depends on the information you need to see.
If you do not use the Xero integration, you can refund a voucher payment back to the voucher by removing the voucher payment line on the order. This will return the amount back to voucher for future use.
If you are using our Xero integration, you would need to create a refund and process the amount returned to the voucher as an offline payment. You would then need to add the value back to a voucher, by increasing the voucher’s value by the amount refunded, and adding a note to the voucher with your actions.
Arlo doesn't send across any form of credit for the voucher payment, the voucher needs to be reconciled manually.
There are multiple ways you can reconcile vouchers. You could, for an example, manage them as a form of credit held in Xero - this would be applied to invoices as payment when redeemed.
The method you use will depend on the account treatment you want to have for vouchers. Your accountant may have a preferred method for handling these.