Voided checks appear missing in "missing checks" report

Hi, John.

How do you handle voided checks in Quicken?

In Quicken Deluxe, I always enter voided checks so that all check numbers are accounted for. (Old CPA habits never die. ) The Payee is VOID, the Payment column is zero, and the Memo field says "VOIDED" - with an explanation, perhaps. When the bank statement arrives, the voided check is sorted in with the cancelled checks returned from the bank. That is, of course, they USED TO be. Nowadays, about the only pieces of paper with the voided checks (and marketing blurbs) are ATM tickets, and those may become history soon; Wells Fargo now offers to email the ATM slips to me, rather than print it out at the ATM. I tried that once; not sure I like it; I want to have a reminder to enter the transaction into Quicken when I get home, so that I have something to Match and Accept when One Step Update downloads the transaction.

But I never print out a missing checks report. Once the account is reconciled - to the paper statement and/or the online balance - I'm done with it for another month. I haven't had a "missing check" in years.

RC

-- R. C. White, CPA San Marcos, TX (Retired. No longer licensed to practice public accounting.) snipped-for-privacy@grandecom.net Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010) (Using Quicken Deluxe 2011 R 8 and Windows Live Mail in Win7 x64)

Hi,

I just noticed that a couple of voided checks are showing up as "missing" in the missing checks report. I am running Quicken Premier 2011 R8 on Windows

Thanks, John

RC - Wondering if you use the VOID TRANSACTION(S) option under the EDIT/VOID TRANSACTION pulldown. If one writes a check (say, # 1234) to say, Walgreens, and then you use that pulldown to void it, the payee ends up with the description "**VOID**Walgreens" and the check number is not eliminated. Easy way to have Quicken do some of the legwork for you, and keep the original PAYEE around if needed. Of course, one can then go back and edit the memo field of what have you afterwards if one wishes.

Reason I ask is you say your payee is simply 'VOID', so I wonder if you know about this pre-built option (and if you do, educating the rest of the readers as well.)

Happy 4th!

Hi, Andrew.

No, I didn't even know the "Void transaction" was there. ;^} Thanks.

I just tested it - and I'm glad I could click on another transaction to get the "You've changed...Do you want to save it?" box! I said "No" and my original entry was preserved. That "Void transaction" is QUICK! I might have had to Restore the whole file from my backup if the "changed" dialog hadn't appeared. To see the "void" option, I just right-clicked Payee (or in any field for the entry in the checking account Register). I see that it prepended **VOID** to the Payee, blanked the Payment amount, left the rest of the entry unchanged and waited for me to press "Save" - or to abort.

I have only a few voided checks a year, so I'll probably just keep entering them manually, but it's good to know the option is there.

RC

-- R. C. White, CPA San Marcos, TX (Retired. No longer licensed to practice public accounting.) snipped-for-privacy@grandecom.net Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010) (Using Quicken Deluxe 2011 R 8 and Windows Live Mail in Win7 x64)

RC - Wondering if you use the VOID TRANSACTION(S) option under the EDIT/VOID TRANSACTION pulldown. If one writes a check (say, # 1234) to say, Walgreens, and then you use that pulldown to void it, the payee ends up with the description "**VOID**Walgreens" and the check number is not eliminated. Easy way to have Quicken do some of the legwork for you, and keep the original PAYEE around if needed. Of course, one can then go back and edit the memo field of what have you afterwards if one wishes.

Reason I ask is you say your payee is simply 'VOID', so I wonder if you know about this pre-built option (and if you do, educating the rest of the readers as well.)

Happy 4th!

I never knew it was there either, so I too thank Andrew for telling us. I've always done what you do. But I have even fewer voided check than a few a year. Because I hardly ever write checks anymore, and instead use the Quicken online payments feature, there's almost nothing to ever void.

Ken Blake wrote: :: On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 12:07:28 -0500, "R. C. White" :: wrote: :: ::: Hi, Andrew. ::: ::: No, I didn't even know the "Void transaction" was there. ;^} ::: Thanks. ::: ::: I just tested it - and I'm glad I could click on another ::: transaction to get the "You've changed...Do you want to save it?" ::: box! I said "No" and my original entry was preserved. That "Void ::: transaction" is QUICK! I might have had to Restore the whole file ::: from my backup if the "changed" dialog hadn't appeared. To see the ::: "void" option, I just right-clicked Payee (or in any field for the ::: entry in the checking account Register). I see that it prepended ::: **VOID** to the Payee, blanked the Payment amount, left the rest of ::: the entry unchanged and waited for me to press "Save" - or to ::: abort. ::: ::: I have only a few voided checks a year, so I'll probably just keep ::: entering them manually, but it's good to know the option is there. :: :: :: I never knew it was there either, so I too thank Andrew for telling :: us. I've always done what you do. But I have even fewer voided check :: than a few a year. Because I hardly ever write checks anymore, and :: instead use the Quicken online payments feature, there's almost :: nothing to ever void. :: :: -- :: Ken Blake

I use it almost exclusively when I've messed up writing the check....mis-entering the amount typically. Like RC, I never like to see a 'gap' in check numbers. Especially six months down the line where I wonder what the missing number was for!

(By the way, one thing I read a while back is that burglars, upon finding a checkbook, will often take checks from the middle of the pack so one does not see missing numbers immediately. Don't know why I mention this, but it is somewhat germane I guess.)

Hi all, thanks for your replies. Yes, I void them by the method you describe (right click transaction an select "Void transaction(s)". Either the check is a real check which has been voided or the check never had an amount written against it (e.g. send voided check for reoccurring EFT payment). In any case, I found out what my problem was - the "Missing check" report was a saved copy that was modified to look at transaction types of "Payments" only. Evidently, a check with an amount of zero (which a voided transaction is) is not considered a payment but a deposit. I modified the report to specify a transaction type of "all transactions" and it does the right thing.

Hope you all had a Happy Fourth!

John

Hi,

I just noticed that a couple of voided checks are showing up as "missing" in the missing checks report. I am running Quicken Premier 2011 R8 on Windows

Thanks, John