How to record Acuity packages and gift certificates in Xero

Selling a package of sessions or a gift certificate in Acuity Scheduling is great for cash flow. It's awkward for the books. The money arrives today, but the work happens weeks or months later, or sometimes never.

Acuity's built-in Xero link never sent these across anyway. Its help page lists package, subscription and gift certificate orders as not supported for Xero. And now it says: "It's not possible to create new connections between Acuity and Xero." So however you record them, you need a plan.

This guide covers what the money actually is, where Acuity shows you the figures, and three simple ways to get it into Xero. It isn't tax advice. Your accountant should have the final say on how your business records it.

Money in advance isn't income yet

When someone buys a five-session package, you haven't earned that money. You owe them five sessions. Until you deliver them, it's a debt to the customer, not a sale.

Xero's own guide to deferred income puts it this way: it "sits as a current liability on your balance sheet until you fulfil the obligation." It becomes income "once you've fulfilled what you promised the customer."

So, in the strict version, there are two moments:

The sale. Money comes in. It goes to a liability account (often called "Deferred income", "Customer deposits" or "Gift vouchers").
The use. Each time a session is booked and delivered with the code, that part moves from the liability account to your sales account.

Gift certificates that are never used are a third moment. If a code expires unused, the money still sitting in the liability account is usually released to income. Ask your accountant how and when they want that done.

A quick example

These figures are made up, and leave out VAT to keep it simple.

A client buys a package of 5 sessions for £100 in March. They use 2 sessions in March and 3 in April.

March sale: £100 into the bank, £100 to the liability account. Sales: £0.
March use: £40 moves from the liability account to sales.
April use: £60 moves across. The liability account is back to £0.

Your March sales show £40, not £100. That's closer to the work you actually did.

What about VAT?

If you're VAT registered, the timing of the VAT can be different from the timing of the income. HMRC splits vouchers into two types:

Single-purpose voucher: the VAT treatment and place of supply are known when it's sold (for example, a voucher that can only be used for one standard-rated service). HMRC says VAT on these "is paid at the point of issue of the voucher".
Multi-purpose voucher: anything else. HMRC says "any VAT due is only payable when the voucher is redeemed".

Whether your Acuity packages and gift certificates count as single or multi-purpose depends on what they can be used for. That's a question for your accountant, and it affects which VAT rate you put on each Xero line.

Can I just count it as income when sold?

Some small businesses do. It's simpler, and if packages and gift certificates are a small part of your takings, the difference may be tiny. But it can overstate sales in the month you sell them, especially around Christmas. Check with your accountant before choosing this, and stick to one method.

What Acuity gives you

Acuity has the numbers. They're just spread across a few places.

Sales of packages and gift certificates. Go to Packages, Gifts & Subscriptions, then View Orders, then Export All. You get a spreadsheet (CSV) with the order date, client, order total, payment status and products. Acuity notes that it leaves out codes made with the Add Code button or through the API, and only shows the first payment of a subscription.
Which sessions were paid with a code. The Appointments report (under Reports) shows which package, gift certificate or subscription paid for an appointment. This is how you work out what was used each month.
Takings by payment method. The Revenue report includes package, gift certificate and subscription purchases on their purchase date, and splits payments by processor (such as Stripe or Square) and cash. Acuity's help only describes saving reports as a PDF from your browser.
What's left on each code. Under Packages, Gifts & Subscriptions, click Edit on a package or gift certificate. Active codes are listed with the appointments remaining.

Acuity gift certificates can be for a money amount, a number of appointments, a number of minutes or unlimited appointments, and can have an expiry date (or none). Know how yours are set up before you decide how to record them.

Three ways to record them in Xero

Option 1: A holding account and a monthly journal

This is the strict method, done by hand.

In Xero, add an account to your chart of accounts for the money you owe customers. Make it a current liability, and give it a clear name like "Packages and gift certificates owed".
When a package or gift certificate sale lands in the bank (or in your Stripe or Square clearing account), code it to that liability account, not to sales.
At the end of each month, use Acuity's Appointments report to add up the sessions that were paid with a code.
Post one manual journal in Xero for that total: take it out of the liability account (debit) and put it into your sales account (credit).
Every so often, check the balance on the liability account against what's left on active codes in Acuity. They should be close. If they aren't, something was missed.

Good for: most businesses that sell packages or vouchers regularly, and anyone whose accountant wants deferred income done properly.

Watch out for: the monthly journal is easy to forget. The check in step 5 is where you catch it.

Option 2: Income when sold

Code each package and gift certificate sale straight to sales. No liability account and no journals.

Good for: businesses where these are a small part of takings, and only if your accountant agrees.

Watch out for: sales look higher in the months you sell lots of vouchers and lower when they're used. Expired codes don't need any entry, which is part of why it's simple.

Option 3: Let an app do it

You can use Zapier, or our app Booking Sync.

Zapier. Acuity's help says: "You can create invoices for packages, gift certificates, and subscriptions using Zapier." Zapier's New Product Order trigger catches the sale, and you can create a Xero invoice from it. But there's no trigger for when a code is used, so the move from the liability account to sales is still a journal you do by hand (Option 1, steps 3 to 5). There's more detail in our comparison of the Acuity to Xero options.

Booking Sync (we made this one). We built Booking Sync to fill the gap Acuity's Xero link left, so we're not neutral. Here's exactly what it does with packages and gift certificates:

The sale. Each package or gift certificate order comes across to Xero as an invoice with the payment applied.
You choose when it counts as income. Either when it's sold, or when it's used. If you choose "when used", the sale is coded to a liability account you pick, with no VAT on it unless you set a VAT rate for that product.
The use, in "when used" mode. When a client books a session with a code, Booking Sync makes the usual invoice for that session, at its full price, coded to your sales account and VAT rate for that appointment type. The part covered by the code is then paid off from your liability account. That moves the money out of the liability account and into sales, so you don't need a monthly journal.
The use, in "when sold" mode. The session invoice shows the code as a discount line, so the income isn't counted twice. If the code covers the whole price, nothing new goes to Xero.
Part of a money-value certificate. Only the amount used on that booking comes out of the liability account. If the client pays the rest by card, that part is recorded as a normal card payment. The unused balance stays in the liability account.
Codes that expire unused. Booking Sync doesn't do anything when a code expires. In "when used" mode the balance stays in your liability account until you release it to income with a journal. Ask your accountant when to do that.
Codes made with Add Code. Acuity doesn't record a sale for these, so Booking Sync has no sale to send. When one is used in "when used" mode, it still takes that amount out of your liability account. So record the sale yourself in Xero to the same account (or, for free codes, ask your accountant how to treat them), or the account will drift below zero.
How it spots packages and gift certificates. It goes by the product name, so names with words like package, gift, certificate, voucher, bundle, pack or credits are treated as paid in advance. Other products count as income when sold.
VAT. "When used" mode fits vouchers where VAT is due when they're used (HMRC's multi-purpose vouchers). If yours are single-purpose, VAT is due when they're sold, so ask your accountant before using "when used" mode, to avoid charging VAT twice.
Set up in Xero first. For "when used" mode, the liability account needs Enable payments to this account ticked in Xero, or Booking Sync can't apply the code to it.
You pick the accounts and VAT rates, and can set different ones for each appointment type. A catch-up runs every night, so a missed sale is picked up.
Refunds aren't automatic. If a paid booking is cancelled, Booking Sync flags it so you can add a credit note in Xero for any refund you gave.

The catch: Booking Sync needs Acuity's Premium plan (or the older Powerhouse plan), because Acuity only offers API access on those plans. On Starter or Standard, Options 1 or 2 (or Zapier) will suit you better.

Price: £12 a month after a 14-day free trial. Cancel any time from the app.

Which should you choose?

Packages and vouchers are a small part of your takings: ask your accountant if Option 2 is fine.
You sell them often and want the books right: Option 1, or an app that does the sale side for you.
You're on Acuity Premium and want it hands-off: try Booking Sync, and ask your accountant to check the first month.
You're not on Premium: Option 1 by hand, with Zapier for the sales if you like building automations.

Whatever you pick, set it up the same way from the start of a month, and tell your accountant or bookkeeper. Switching method halfway through a year makes the year-end harder.

For appointments as well as packages, see how to get Acuity bookings into Xero now the built-in link has stopped.

FAQ

Is a gift certificate income when I sell it? In the strict method, no. It's money you owe the customer until they use it, so it sits in a liability account. Some small businesses count it as income when sold to keep things simple. Ask your accountant which suits you.

Does Acuity send packages and gift certificates to Xero? No. Acuity's help page lists package, subscription and gift certificate orders as not supported for Xero, and new Acuity to Xero connections are no longer possible.

How do I export Acuity gift certificate sales? Go to Packages, Gifts & Subscriptions, then View Orders, then Export All. You get a CSV file of orders. Codes made with the Add Code button aren't included.

How do I see which sessions were paid with a package? Use the Appointments report under Reports in Acuity. It shows which package, gift certificate or subscription paid for each appointment.

When is VAT due on a gift voucher? It depends on the type. HMRC says VAT on a single-purpose voucher is paid when it's sold, and on a multi-purpose voucher when it's used. Check with your accountant which type yours are.

Can Booking Sync hold package sales in a liability account? Yes. Choose "when used" in settings and pick a liability account (in Xero, tick "Enable payments to this account" on it). Each session paid with a code then moves that amount from the liability account to sales. Unused balances on expired codes stay there until you or your accountant release them. It needs Acuity Premium or Powerhouse.

Sources

Checked 10 November 2026.