Voids & Financial Reports

How voided checks affect accounting reports.

How Void Dates Affect Financial Reports

Financial reports are affected by the original Post Date and Void Date depending on the selected Date Range of the report. A report includes only what happened during the starting and ending dates of the report.

Example:
If a check were issued in June, then later voided in July, it would still be included on June reports since it had not yet been voided. July reports would include only the voided entry since the original check was issued in the prior month. In order for the original and voided entries to cancel each other out (on the report) the date range would need to include both June and July.

Choosing a Void Date

When you void an item you can choose to use today’s date (day the mistake was noticed) or another date such as the date the item was originally posted. There are pros and cons to each approach.

Set Void Date to Match Original Post Date

If you void an item using the same date it was originally posted the two sides of the transaction (post and void) immediately cancel each other out. Accounting reports will act as though the transaction never happened. The down side is that you do not have a true audit trail of when each half of the transaction occurred.

Also, financial reports you had previously printed (for the period when the item was originally posted) would no longer be valid. If you had given such reports to your main office or board of directors, it would be necessary to issue a revised copy of those reports. For payroll you may also need to make adjustments to your next tax deposit.

Void the Item with Today’s Date
For auditing purposes it’s best to void things on the date the mistake was noticed (such as today). That way you have a record of what happened and when. This complies with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). The down side of this approach is that reports will include only what happened during the selected dates (only the original posting or the void) as explained in the opening paragraph.