If You need to void a check in a prior accounting period you should:
1) Always consider what you are doing before proceeding.
Before you void a check in a prior period, you should consider the ramifications to your prior financial reports and tax returns. You should discuss the following with your accountant and/or tax preparer:
• Voiding a check used to purchase inventory reduces your quantities on hand. You should review and adjust your inventory as necessary after voiding the check.
• Voiding a bill payment check will increase your Accounts Payable balance for the Vendor on the check by the value of the voided payment. You should review and adjust your accounts payable as appropriate after voiding the bill payment check.
• You CANNOT void a sales tax payment check. If you delete a sales tax payment check, you will need to adjust your sales tax liabilities according to the specific situation.
• When you void a paycheck it reduces the affected employee earnings, taxes and all related withholdings. Both Company and Employee payroll tax liabilities are also affected. You need to carefully review and adjust these balances as necessary after voiding any paycheck.
• Voiding a payroll liability check increases payroll liability account balances. You should review and appropriately adjust payroll liability balances after voiding any payroll liability check.
• Even if the check only involves a single ‘expense’ you should carefully consider what the results will be upon your prior financial data.
If the check was associated with any of the above categories, non-expenses or items, you'll need to take steps to ensure that your accounting reports remain accurate. Consult your accountant and/or tax preparer before proceeding.
In some cases, your QuickBooks Administrator or Accountant may have set a ‘closing period password’ to prevent such changes; you will need to contact them in order to obtain permission to make those changes.
2) Take the Appropriate Steps to Void the Check:
When you attempt to void a check dated in a closed period, QuickBooks warns you that it could affect the accuracy of your prior period reports and account balances. If the voided check was only associated with an expense account, QuickBooks gives you a choice:
• Void the check as of the original transaction date (prior accounting period); QuickBooks voids the check as of the original check date (prior accounting period) and no journal entries are created.
or
• Void the check in the current period, and have QuickBooks create journal entries to keep your prior period reports accurate. The original check is voided and the amounts are changed to zeroes. Then QuickBooks creates two general journal entries. The first journal entry, dated on the same day as the original check, duplicates the accounting entry of the original check. The second journal entry, dated in the current period, reverses the accounting entry of the original check.
Remember, voiding a check in a prior accounting period can significantly impact not only the financial reports for the prior period, but also necessitate a restatement of various tax returns. You should ALWAYS consult with your Accountant and/or Tax Preparer prior to making any such changes, or voiding a check in a prior accounting period.