How to Transfer Gift Cards and Client Balances to New Salon Software
Switching salon software? Here is how to transfer gift cards with their codes and balances, move client credit and packages, and what to export first.
In this guide
A gift card, a client's account balance and a part-used course are all money your business already holds. When you move to new salon, spa or clinic software, each one has to arrive at the same value, so the front desk can find it the day a client walks in with a voucher.
This guide covers what to export before you close your old account, how to transfer gift cards into Bella Booking with their codes and remaining balances, where client credit, packages and loyalty points go, and how to check the totals match on your first day.
Which balances need to move
Start with a list of everything a client could still spend with you. Most businesses have some of these four:
- •Gift cards and vouchers, each with a code and a remaining balance
- •Client account credit: money a client paid in ahead, or credit you gave them
- •Prepaid packages or courses: sessions a client has paid for and not used yet
- •Loyalty points a client can still redeem
Bella Booking has a home for each of them: gift cards, client credit, prepaid packages and a loyalty programme, all on the Professional plan. See /features/gift-cards and /features/client-credit for what each one does day to day.
What to export before you close your old account
Take these while your old account is still open. A report that shows only a total isn't enough, because each card and each balance comes across one by one.
- 1Gift cards: one row per card that still has a balance, with the code, the remaining balance (what is left to spend), the expiry date, and the recipient's name or email if you have them. If a voucher was sold for a particular service, keep that column too.
- 2Client credit: one row per client with money on account, with their name, mobile or email, and the balance.
- 3Packages and courses: one row per client part-way through one, with the package name, the sessions left and the expiry date.
- 4Loyalty points: one row per client with a points balance.
- 5Totals: the outstanding gift card balance and the total client credit your old system reports today, so you can check them against Bella later.
Bring your client list across first. Client credit, packages and points all belong to a client, so those clients need to be in Bella before their balances are added.
How gift cards transfer into Bella
Send the Bella team your gift card list in the support chat (the Support button in the sidebar), as a spreadsheet or the export from your old system, and the team imports it for you free of charge. Bella checks every row before any card is created.
What each card keeps
- •The same code, so a client can use the card they already hold. Any code of 6 to 50 letters, numbers and hyphens comes across, and upper or lower case and spaces don't matter when it is typed in.
- •The remaining balance: what you still owe on the card, which may be less than it was sold for.
- •Its expiry date. A card with no expiry in your list gets the expiry period from your gift card settings, counted from the day it is imported.
- •What it was sold for. A voucher for a particular service or bundle can be matched to the same service (and variant) or bundle on your Bella menu, or come across as an amount card.
- •The recipient's name and email, when your list has them.
Some rows are held back for you to decide, such as a card that has already expired in your old system (change its expiry in the list to honour it), a card marked cancelled there, a code another card in Bella already uses, or a code shorter than 6 characters. Running the same list again is safe: a code that was already imported is skipped, so a second run brings in only what is new.
Imported cards count in your outstanding gift card balance from the day they arrive and never in your gift card sales, because the money was taken in your old system. Nothing is emailed to the recipients. Clients redeem an imported card like any other: at checkout, or by entering the code when they book online.
Don't re-enter old cards with Sell gift card. That records each one as a new sale, so your sales reports would show money you never took in Bella.
Client account balances become client credit
Money a client holds on account comes across as client credit, one balance per client. Switch client credit on under Settings, then for each client open the Wallet tab on their profile, choose Adjust balance in the Credit section, enter the amount and a reason such as "Balance from previous system", and save.
- •The adjustment sits in the client's credit ledger with the reason and who made it.
- •It counts as money you owe in the Client credit summary report, and no sale is recorded.
- •It applies itself when your team checks the client out, with a switch to skip it for a sale. It isn't used during online booking.
- •It has no expiry.
Adjusting a balance needs the Manage client credit permission, which Owners, Admins and Receptionists have by default. More on how credit works at /features/client-credit.
Prepaid packages and courses
Recreate each package you sell in Catalogue > Packages, with the same services, session counts and expiry, so new sales carry on as before. See /features/packages.
A course a client is part-way through doesn't come across as a package. A package sold in Bella starts with its full sessions, and your team can't edit the sessions left. A straightforward way to honour what a client has left is to add its unused value to their client credit, with a reason that names the course, so it pays for their next appointments at checkout.
Keep your old list of courses until every client on it has used or converted their sessions.
Loyalty points
If you run a points programme, set up the loyalty programme in Bella first, with your earning rules and rewards. Then add each client's balance with Adjust points on the Wallet tab of their profile, with a reason. Owners and Admins can adjust points, and every adjustment stays in the client's transaction history.
Check the totals on day one
- 1Open Reports > Gift card summary. The outstanding balance should match the total your old system reported, less any card you decided not to bring across.
- 2Open Reports > Client credit summary and compare it with the account balances you added.
- 3Search a few gift cards by code on the Gift cards page, starting with the largest balances, and check each balance and expiry date.
If a figure is out, look first at the rows that were held back. The Bella team can run the corrected rows again, and a card that is already in Bella is skipped.
Frequently asked questions
Will my clients' gift card codes still work after the switch?
Yes. Each card is imported with the code the client already holds and its remaining balance, and the client uses it at checkout or when booking online. A code needs 6 to 50 letters, numbers or hyphens; a card whose code doesn't fit is held back so you can decide what to do with it.
Do imported gift cards show up as sales in Bella?
No. The money was taken in your old system, so an imported card counts in your outstanding balance from the day it arrives and never in your gift card sales.
Will gift card holders get an email when their card is imported?
No. Importing a card sends nothing to the recipient.
Can I import gift cards myself?
The Bella team runs the import for you, free of charge. Send your list in the support chat, as a spreadsheet or your old system's export, and the team imports it.
What happens to a voucher that has already expired in my old system?
It is held back from the import. To honour it, change its expiry date in your list and it comes across with the new date.
Can a client's remaining package sessions come across?
Not as a package. A package sold in Bella starts with its full sessions, so a straightforward way to honour a part-used course is to add its unused value to the client's credit, with a reason that names the course.
Which plan do I need?
Gift cards, client credit, prepaid packages and the loyalty programme are on the Professional plan, and the free trial includes them.
Key takeaways
- ✓Export one row per gift card, client balance, course and points balance before you close your old account, plus the totals
- ✓The Bella team imports gift cards free of charge, and each card keeps its code, remaining balance and expiry
- ✓Imported cards count in your outstanding balance, never in your sales, and nothing is emailed to recipients
- ✓Client account balances become client credit, added per client with a reason
- ✓A part-used course doesn't import as a package: honour it by adding its unused value as client credit
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Last updated: 2026-10-02