Keep three records beside each other
The sales-system report explains merchandise sales, refunds, payment methods and gift-card movements. The processor report explains fees, adjustments and the dates money is released. The bank statement confirms the amount received. Each answers a different question, and none should silently stand in for the other two.
Begin the reconciliation with the settlement reference and covered dates. Check for transactions crossing midnight, a refund deducted from a later payout or a reserve held by the processor. An unexplained difference should remain a specific item to investigate rather than being cleared to miscellaneous expense.
Illustrative example: a downtown shop promotion
Assume a Victoria shop records $7,200 of merchandise sales and $600 of gift cards sold, with $300 of gift cards redeemed against the merchandise purchases. Ignoring taxes for this reconciliation illustration, customer payments through the processor are $7,500: merchandise sales less redemptions plus newly purchased cards.
The processor deducts $180 in fees and a $120 refund from an earlier day, producing a $7,200 bank payout. The coincidence that the payout equals merchandise sales does not make the accounting correct automatically. The reconciliation still needs the fee, earlier refund and gift-card movements.
Reconcile the outstanding gift-card balance
Use opening value plus cards issued, less redemptions and supported adjustments, to explain the closing balance. The sample shop begins with $2,100 outstanding, issues $600 and records $300 of redemptions. With no other changes, $2,400 remains outstanding.
This is a control schedule, not a conclusion about the accounting or tax treatment of every prepaid product. Distinguish ordinary gift cards from discount vouchers, stored store credits and packages with specific terms. Apply the treatment reviewed for the actual arrangement consistently. CRA treats qualifying gift certificates as payment when redeemed; the actual terms matter when establishing whether a product meets that classification.
Check the posting rules before the next weekend
Confirm which integration creates the sale and how the later payout clears it. If both the sales import and bank rule create revenue, the same trade may appear twice. Test one sale, one refund and one redemption through the full workflow before trusting a new mapping.
A short weekly check is easier than reconstructing a season of unexplained clearing balances. Assign an owner for cash discrepancies, gift-card adjustments and processor questions. The resulting monthly report can then compare merchandise performance and selling costs without letting settlement timing distort the story.
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