Core principles

The voucher accounting model rests on three principles:

The voucher liability reflects the cost of the voucher, not its face value. Account 2050 — Vouchers outstanding is sized at the price charged for the voucher, reduced by any promotional discount applied to it. The face value (what the customer can spend) is never on the books. A CHF 100 face-value voucher sold for CHF 80 credits 2050 at CHF 80.
Voucher discount recognition happens at redemption. The discount embedded in a voucher — whether it is sold below face value or has a promo code applied — is recognized as a sales (3200) and VAT (2010) reduction at each redemption, split proportionally between sales and VAT at the actual VAT rate of the product purchased.
Each redemption releases a share of the remaining liability. Combined with the cost-basis principle above, this guarantees account 2050 always clears to exactly zero on a fully consumed voucher, regardless of the order in which discounts, redemptions, or cancellations occur.

New accounts introduced

Code	Account name	Description
1111	External voucher	Inter-organizer settlement account, used when a voucher is issued by one organizer and redeemed at another.
3300	Breakage revenue	Revenue recognized when a voucher expires without being fully redeemed.

Lifecycle scenarios

Issuance — voucher sold at face value

A customer buys a CHF 50 gift card at full price. Account 2050 is credited at the price paid; there's no deferred discount component.

Account	Debit	Credit
1050 — Accounts Receivable	50
2050 — Vouchers Outstanding		50

Issuance — voucher sold below face value

A customer buys a CHF 100 face-value voucher for CHF 80. Account 2050 is credited at the price paid (cost basis = CHF 80). The CHF 20 face-vs-price gap is not booked as a discount at issuance — it is deferred and recognized as a sales/VAT reduction at each redemption, proportional to the amount used.

Account	Debit	Credit
1050 — Accounts Receivable	80
2050 — Vouchers Outstanding		80

Voucher liability adjustment — promotional discount applied to a voucher

A promotional discount of CHF 10 is applied to a voucher (e.g., promo code, manual adjustment). Account 2050 is debited by the discount amount; the customer's accounts receivable is credited.

Account	Debit	Credit
2050 — Vouchers Outstanding	10
1050 — Accounts Receivable		10

No sales or VAT recognition occurs at this step — the discount is deferred and will be recognized at each future redemption, proportional to the amount used.

Redemption — internal (same organizer)

When a customer pays for a product using a voucher, the redemption produces six coordinated entries: the standard sale + revenue + tax recognition, the voucher liability release on 2050, and the sales/VAT discount recognition for the give-away portion.

For a CHF 40 redemption on a product at 10% VAT, using a voucher with face CHF 100 / cost CHF 80:

Redemption ratio = 40 / 100 = 40%
Liability to release = 80 × 40% = 32
Discount portion = 40 − 32 = 8
Net sales reduction = 8 / 1.10 = 7.27
VAT reduction = 8 − 7.27 = 0.73

Entry	Account	Debit	Credit
Sale	1050 — Accounts Receivable	40
	2030 — Deferred Revenue		40
Sale recognition	2030 — Deferred Revenue	36.36
	3200 — Sales		36.36
Tax recognition	2030 — Deferred Revenue	3.64
	2010 — Taxes Payable		3.64
Liability release	2050 — Vouchers Outstanding	32
	1050 — Accounts Receivable		32
Sales discount recognition	3200 — Sales	7.27
	1050 — Accounts Receivable		7.27
VAT reduction	2010 — Taxes Payable	0.73
	1050 — Accounts Receivable		0.73

Verification: 1050 nets to zero (+40 − 32 − 7.27 − 0.73 = 0). Net sales revenue = 36.36 − 7.27 = 29.09. Net VAT = 3.64 − 0.73 = 2.91. Voucher liability remaining = 80 − 32 = 48.

The CHF 40 gross sale becomes a net CHF 32 (incl. VAT) — reflecting the embedded 20% effective discount.

Refund of a redemption

A refund reverses the liability release, sales discount recognition, and VAT reduction by the exact same amounts originally booked. Partial refunds reverse proportionally. The voucher returns to the state it was in before the redemption.

Payment-side cancellation

When a voucher payment is cancelled directly rather than going through the refund flow, the entries produced are identical to a refund: the liability release, sales discount recognition, and VAT reduction are all reversed by the amounts originally booked. The voucher returns to its pre-payment state.

Discount cancellation after one or more redemptions

When a previously-applied promotional discount is cancelled — and one or more redemptions happened in the meantime — two coordinated effects unwind it without modifying any historical entries. All adjustments are new entries dated on the cancellation date.

(1) Net liability adjustment sized at the unconsumed portion of the discount:

net release = D × (face remaining at cancellation) / (face remaining when discount was applied)

For a CHF 10 discount applied after a first CHF 40 redemption (face remaining 60), then cancelled after another CHF 50 redemption (face remaining 10): net release = 10 × 10 / 60 = 1.67.

Account	Debit	Credit
1050 — Accounts Receivable	1.67
2050 — Vouchers Outstanding		1.67

(2) Per-redemption sales/VAT correction restoring 3200 and 2010 as if the discount had never existed for each redemption that happened in the discount window. Each correction uses the actual VAT rate of its redemption. Redemptions that were already refunded are skipped — their refund's own discount reversal already restored those accounts.

After cancellation, the voucher's books reflect the state as if the cancelled discount had never been applied — but no historical entries are modified.

Issuance cancellation

When a voucher issuance is cancelled, account 2050 is debited at the remaining liability on the books — not the original face amount. This prevents over-debiting when other lifecycle events (redemptions, discounts) have already consumed part of the cost basis.

Account	Debit	Credit
2050 — Vouchers Outstanding	remaining liability
1050 — Accounts Receivable		remaining liability

Expiry

When a voucher reaches its expiry date without being fully redeemed, the remaining liability on 2050 is recognized as breakage revenue on the new 3300 account.

Account	Debit	Credit
2050 — Vouchers Outstanding	remaining liability
3300 — Breakage Revenue		remaining liability

The amount equals what's left on 2050, so the voucher's liability clears to zero. Any unrealized face-vs-price discount on the unredeemed portion is implicitly absorbed: no sale ever happened for that portion, so no sales reduction is booked — the cost basis is fully written off via breakage.

Pre-expiry extension

If a voucher is extended before its expiry date passes, no journal entry is generated. The expiry date simply moves forward.

Post-expiry extension reversal

If a voucher is extended after it had already expired (e.g., goodwill gesture), the breakage entry is reversed: liability restored to 2050, revenue rolled back from 3300.

Account	Debit	Credit
3300 — Breakage Revenue	reversal amount
2050 — Vouchers Outstanding		reversal amount

The reversal amount equals the breakage of the matched expiry, so the two cancel exactly. The voucher returns to its pre-expiry state — including its original embedded discount rate — and future redemptions resume normally.

Cross-organizer redemptions

When a voucher issued by organizer A is redeemed at organizer B, the value moves between their books via the new 1111 — External voucher account. Six entries are generated: three on the redeemer's books and one on the issuer's books, plus the two sales/VAT discount recognition entries on the redeemer.

On the redeemer's books (organizer B):

Entry	Account	Debit	Credit
Inter-organizer receivable	1111 — External voucher	cost basis released
	1050 — Accounts Receivable		cost basis released
Sales discount recognition	3200 — Sales	net sales portion
	1050 — Accounts Receivable		net sales portion
VAT reduction	2010 — Taxes Payable	VAT portion
	1050 — Accounts Receivable		VAT portion

On the issuer's books (organizer A):

Account	Debit	Credit
2050 — Vouchers Outstanding	cost basis released
1111 — External voucher		cost basis released

The 1111 account on the redeemer represents money owed to them by the issuer; the 1111 account on the issuer represents money owed to the redeemer. They balance when the two organizers eventually settle the inter-organizer transfer.

The discount recognition (sales + VAT reduction) lands on the redeemer's books because they recognize the revenue for the service provided — they also recognize the discount. The standard sale + revenue + tax recognition entries from the redemption sit on the redeemer's books too, as for any sale.

Refunds and external voucher refunds follow the same pattern with debit/credit swapped.

Event reference

Voucher-related entries are labeled with these event names in the journal entries:

Event	What it represents
Voucher issuance	Voucher created; cost basis credited to 2050.
Voucher issuance cancellation	Issuance reversed; 2050 debited at remaining liability.
Voucher liability adjustment	Promotional discount applied to a voucher; 2050 reduced.
Voucher liability adjustment cancellation	Promotional discount cancelled; 2050 restored by the unconsumed portion.
Payment	Internal voucher redemption — the 2050 liability release leg.
Refund	Internal voucher refund — reverses a redemption.
External voucher payment	Cross-organizer redemption — present on both organizers' books.
External voucher refund	Cross-organizer refund — present on both organizers' books.
Voucher redemption discount	Sales / VAT reduction recognized at redemption (the deferred discount realized).
Voucher redemption discount refund	Reversal of the above on a refund.
Voucher discount cancellation correction	Per-redemption restoration of 3200 / 2010 after a discount is cancelled.
Voucher expiry	Remaining liability moved from 2050 to 3300.
Voucher extension reversal	Post-expiry extension; 3300 → 2050.