# Voided Check Bank Reconciliation: Same Period or Later

- Author: PreciseBankFlow (https://www.precisebankflow.com)
- Published: 2025-02-24
- Updated: 2025-02-24
- Category: Bank reconciliation
- Canonical: https://www.precisebankflow.com/blog/voided-check-bank-reconciliation

> How a voided check affects a bank reconciliation: voided in the same period, voided after it was outstanding, and a voided check that cleared anyway.
In a voided check bank reconciliation, timing decides the treatment. A check voided in the period it was written never reaches the outstanding list. A check voided after it sat outstanding comes off the list through a reversing entry dated in the current period. A voided check that the bank pays anyway becomes a payment to recover.

## A check voided in the same period it was written

A check voided before the statement date of the month it was written has no effect on that bank reconciliation. The ledger shows the check and its void netting to zero, the bank never saw it, and it does not belong on the outstanding list. Only the check number remains, marked void in the sequence.

A proper void sets the check's amount to zero and keeps the number, payee and date. The register keeps an unbroken sequence, and the reconciliation screen shows nothing to tick.

Check the paper. A voided check should exist physically, with "VOID" written across it and the signature line cut out or defaced, filed with the month's records. Electronic checks that were never printed need a note in the ledger explaining why the number was skipped.

## Voiding a check that was outstanding at the last reconciliation

A check that was outstanding at the last reconciliation must be voided with a reversing entry dated in the current period. Debit cash and credit the original expense or payable, using today's date. Do not change the original check's date or amount, because that would alter a reconciliation that has already been signed.

Editing the old check in place is the usual temptation. The cost is that last month's reconciled balance no longer matches the ledger for last month. Anyone reopening that reconciliation will find a difference that was not there when it was signed. [Monthly bank reconciliation deadlines](/blog/monthly-bank-reconciliation-deadlines) explains why a closed period should stay closed once the reconciliation is approved.

On the current reconciliation, the check drops off the outstanding list, and the reversing entry raises the book balance by the same amount. The two movements offset, so the adjusted balances still agree.

## What if a voided check clears the bank anyway?

A voided check that clears the bank anyway is a real payment that your books say did not happen. The statement shows the withdrawal, the ledger shows a void, and the reconciliation has an unexplained book-side item. Contact the bank at once, because a check you cancelled may have been paid without authority.

Before treating it as an error, confirm three facts: whether a stop payment was placed, whether the check that cleared carries the voided number and amount, and whether the payee was owed the money after all. If the payee was owed it, reinstate the payment in the ledger. If not, record a receivable from the payee or a claim against the bank, and follow up in writing.

A pattern of voided checks that clear, or voids raised just after a check was mailed, is a fraud signal. [Accounts payable fraud schemes and detection tests](/blog/accounts-payable-fraud) covers what to test when voids look deliberate.

### The three cases side by side

The amounts below are example values.

| Case | Ledger entry | Effect on outstanding list | Effect on adjusted book balance |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Check 4410 for 800.00 voided in the month written | Amount set to zero | Never listed | None |
| Check 4392 for 1,150.00, outstanding last month, voided this month | Debit cash 1,150.00, credit payable, dated today | Removed | Up 1,150.00 |
| Check 4371 for 560.00 voided, then paid by the bank | Credit cash 560.00, debit receivable from payee or bank | Not listed | Down 560.00 |

## Which voided check records should you keep?

Keep the physical voided check, the ledger entry that voided it, the reason for the void and who approved it. Together they let a reviewer confirm that each missing number in the check sequence is accounted for, and that a void was not used to hide a check that was actually cashed.

A short log, one line per void, makes the monthly review fast. Record the check number, date written, date voided, amount, payee, reason and approver. Compare it with the check sequence on the statement every month.

Voids appear in places other than the operating account. A disbursement account that is swept to zero every night still writes checks, and its voids should be on the same log. [Zero balance account reconciliation with sweeps](/blog/zero-balance-account-reconciliation) explains how those sub-accounts are reconciled. Likewise, a check voided and replaced with an internal transfer needs both records kept, and the transfer then follows the rules in [reconciling transfers between bank accounts](/blog/reconcile-transfers-between-bank-accounts).

## Mistake: deleting a check instead of voiding it

Deleting a check removes its number from the ledger, so the sequence shows a gap with no record of why. If the check had already been reconciled as outstanding, deletion also changes a closed period. A void keeps the number, the history and the trail, which is everything a reviewer needs to check the gap.

Deletion also defeats a basic control. Missing check numbers are one of the first things a reviewer looks for, and a sequence with unexplained gaps cannot show whether a check was lost, stolen or cashed. Make voiding the only way to cancel a check, and restrict delete rights in the accounting system to someone who does not write checks.

PreciseBankFlow flags gaps in check sequences as exceptions, so a number missing from both the cleared and outstanding lists is raised for an answer. See the [PreciseBankFlow homepage](/) for the full set of checks.