1. Accounting
  2. Banking
  3. Checking
  4. Writing Checks
  5. Voiding a Check

Voiding a Check

The Write Checks transaction issues a check to pay an expense or record a non-check transaction if you do not use Accounts Payable. For information about writing checks in NetSuite, see Writing Checks.

When you write a check, the check amount posts into the journal account affected by the payment. When you void the check, the selected journal account is impacted by the voiding journal entry. For information about the GL impact from writing a check, see the Writing Checks subtopic in the Bank Transaction GL Impact help topic.

To void a check from a closed period, you must reopen the period.

Note:

You cannot void a range of checks at one time.

You can void a check with or without a reversing journal entry. To do this, you set the Void Transactions Using Reversing Journals preference (see Void Transactions Using Reversing Journals Preference):

Note:

If a transaction is still valid but needs to be modified, you should not void the transaction. Instead, you should unmatch the transaction or remove its cleared status, modify the transaction accordingly, and then match or clear the transaction again and reconcile it.

To unmatch a transaction or remove its cleared status, see Undoing Submitted Transaction Matches and Undoing the Cleared Status of Submitted Transactions. To reconcile transactions, see Reconciling Transactions.

To void a check:

  1. Go to Transactions > Bank > Write Checks > List.

  2. Click the Edit link for the check to be voided.

  3. Click Void.

    If you are voiding this check with a reversing journal entry, the Voiding Journal page appears. Click Save.

    Note:

    If the Voiding Journal page does not appear but you want to void the check with a reversing journal entry, you need to set the Void Transactions Using Reversing Journals preference. See Void Transactions Using Reversing Journals Preference.

    The system sets the check’s status to Voided and records a journal entry with an opposite amount that cancels out the general ledger impact of the check. For more information about creating a journal entry, see Making Journal Entries.

    If you are voiding this check without a reversing journal entry, the system sets the status to Voided and sets the transaction amount to zero. If the check was previously cleared, a confirmation window appears warning you that voiding the check may cause an inconsistency in your account reconciliation, like an incorrect balance. The check becomes unreconciled if previously reconciled, and the check is unmatched or has its cleared status removed. You can click Cancel to not void the check or click OK to void the check.

For information about voiding transactions, see Voiding Transactions.

Note:

If you have a vendor bill you need to cancel, see Canceling a Vendor Bill. Unlike checks, bills are cancelled rather than voided.

If you void the check without a reversing journal entry and the check was previously cleared, you need to reconcile the voided check. See Troubleshooting Reconciliation Issues.

If you want to remove the voided check from the print queue, edit the check and then clear the To Be Printed box.

Voided Check Scenarios

The following table outlines some possible scenarios where a check is voided in NetSuite, and the the action you should take:

Scenario

Action to Take

You created and voided a check. However, but no check was delivered to or deposited by the vendor. Consequently, the check, and its reversing journal entry (if one was recorded), does not have a corresponding imported bank line to match.

Go to Transactions > Bank > Match Bank Data. Mark the voided check and its reversing journal entry (if one was recorded) as cleared. See Marking Transactions as Cleared.

Then, reconcile your transaction or transactions. See Reconciling Transactions.

You created and voided a check, but the check was an ACH payment. The electronic payment was sent out, so your bank account was initially debited. However, the payment failed due to incorrect bank information from the vendor. Therefore, the payment was credited back to your bank account.

Go to Transactions > Bank > Match Bank Data. Match the voided check to the debit transaction, and then match the reversing journal entry to the credit transaction. See Matching Bank Data.

Then, reconcile your transactions. See Reconciling Transactions.

Related Topics

General Notices