What happens to prepaid spa packages and gift certificates when a spa sells?

A spa often holds money for treatments it has not yet delivered. To the client, a prepaid package or a gift certificate is a promise. To the buyer, it is work to be done with no new cash coming in. That gap is the reason to settle this early in the deal rather than after the keys change hands.

Count what is outstanding

Make a list of every unused treatment series, active membership, paper or electronic gift certificate and balance held through a third-party gift-card platform. Note the date sold, the amount left and any expiry the spa has promised. Records often live in more than one place, so check the booking system, the till and the platform account.

Agree who honours them and how it is reflected

The buyer and seller can agree that the buyer honours everything and receives an adjustment in the deal, or that the seller settles some amounts another way. Whatever you choose, put it in writing. Your lawyer can draft it, and your accountant can tell you how the adjustment should be recorded.

Telling clients

Clients with prepaid treatments are the people most likely to worry about a sale. Tell them before they hear it elsewhere, say that their packages will be honoured, and explain how to book. Staff should have the same message. If a gift-card platform is involved, ask how its balances move to a new owner.

• Which balances are held by the spa, and which by a platform.
• Which items carry an expiry, and what the spa has told clients.
• What a lawyer says about the rules that cover prepaid balances.