Voucher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A voucher is a bond which is worth a certain monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include (but are not limited to) housing, travel, and food vouchers. The term voucher is also a synonym for receipt and is often used to refer to receipts used as evidence of, for example, the declaration that a service has been performed or that an expenditure has been made.
The term is also commonly used for education vouchers, which are somewhat different.
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[edit] In tourism
Vouchers are used in the tourism sector primarily as proof of a named customer's right to take a service at a specific time and place. Service providers collect them to return to the tour operator or travel agent that has sent that customer, to prove they have given the service. So, the life of a voucher is as below:
- Customer receives vouchers from tour operator or travel agent for the services bought
- Customer goes to vacation site and forwards the voucher to related provider and asks for the service to be given
- Provider collects the vouchers
- Provider sends collected vouchers to the agent or operator that sends customers from time to time, and asks for payment for those services
- Uncollected vouchers do not deserve payment
This approach is most suitable for [Free Individual Tourist] activities where pre-allocation for services are neither necessary, nor feasible or applicable. It was customary before the information era when communication was limited and expensive, but now has been given quite a different role by B2C applications. When a reservation is made through the internet, customers are often provided a voucher through email or a web site that can be printed. Providers customarily require this voucher be presented prior to providing the service.
[edit] Accounts payable
A voucher is an accounting document representing an internal intent to make a payment to an external entity, such as a vendor or service provider. A voucher is produced usually after receiving a vendor invoice, after the invoice is successfully matched to a Purchase Order. A voucher will contain detailed information regarding the payee, the monetary amount of the payment, a description of the transaction, and more. In Accounts Payable systems, a process called a "payment run" is executed to generate payments corresponding to the unpaid vouchers. These payments can then be released or held at the discretion of an Accounts Payable supervisor or the company Controller.
[edit] Mobile phones
A voucher is a recharge number sold to a customer to recharge their SIM card with money and to extend the card's availability period.
[edit] Internet
A voucher can also be used online in the form of an e-voucher. These types of vouchers can be entered when shopping online and the relevant vouchers value added to your order. It can take the form of any code. Many companies have opted to use voucher codes for the last few years but with a massive incline in use towards the end of 2008/early 2009. There are many internet websites devoted to promoting these deals and vouchers online, as well as Facebook groups offering items such as student discounts and 2-4-1 restaurant voucher deals.
There is a small number of sites that use a disreputable method of click to reveal method for dropping cookies on the consumer's computer, which his has led to the introduction of guidelines for voucher use in Internet Marketing.
[edit] See also
- Luncheon Voucher
- Coupon
- Token — a similar concept, but in the form of a coin
- School voucher
- Labour voucher
- Food Stamp Program
- ROC consumer voucher
