How to Void or Delete a Check or Bill in QuickBooks Desktop, and Delete a Deposit

Void or delete: what each one does

Intuit says to void a check if you want to keep a record of it in QuickBooks. Deleting a bill or payment can also leave the Transaction Journal Detail report showing payments without their bills.

For one transaction at a time, Intuit's Desktop articles behind this guide cover checks, bills, bill payments and deleting a deposit. They don't include steps for voiding a deposit or voiding an invoice. Apart from the batch tool notes in Step 5, they don't walk through deleting a single invoice either.

Before you start

• Back up the company file before a batch delete or void. Intuit's batch steps include a backup option.
• Check whether the transaction is dated on or before your closing date. That changes what you need (see Step 4).
• Batch delete and void needs the admin or External Accountant login and single-user mode.

For a related task, see how to reconcile a bank account. To see who changed a transaction before you undo it, use the Audit Trail report.

Step 1: Void or delete a check

1. 1Go to Banking > Use Register and choose the account you wrote the check from.
2. 2Select the check in the register.
3. 3From the Edit menu, select Void Check to keep it at zero, or Delete Check to remove it.
4. 4Select Record.

To record a blank or spoiled check as void, create a check for $0.00. Enter a payee and an account in the Expenses section, then go to Edit > Void Check.

Step 2: Delete a deposit

Intuit's Desktop deposit article covers deleting a deposit and starting over. It doesn't describe voiding one.

1. 1Go to Reports > Report Center, open the Banking section, and run Deposit Detail.
2. 2Find and open the deposit.
3. 3Review the payments listed in the Make Deposits window.
4. 4Right-click in the window, select Delete deposit, then OK.

Every payment on the deposit goes back to Undeposited Funds, ready for a new deposit. To rebuild the deposit, see how to clear Undeposited Funds and fix deposits.

Step 3: Void or delete a bill or bill payment

1. 1Open the bill or the bill payment check.
2. 2From the Edit menu, select Void Bill/Void Bill Pmt-Check to void it, or Delete Bill/Bill Pmt-Check to delete it.

Several bills or payments from the A/P register

1. 1Go to Lists > Chart of Accounts and double-click your Accounts Payable account.
2. 2In the register, select the bill or bill payment check.
3. 3From the Edit menu, select Void/Delete Bill/Bill Pmt-Check.
4. 4Select Record, then Yes. Repeat for the next one.

Deleting a bill payment sends the bill back to unpaid. To pay it again, see how to enter and pay bills.

Step 4: Undo a transaction in a closed period

After you set a closing date, changing or deleting a transaction dated on or before it takes the closing date password and the right permissions. Intuit says those changes then appear on the Closing Date Exception Report.

Voiding a check dated before the closing date that uses an expense account brings up a message. Choose Yes if you want QuickBooks to add two journal entries that balance the affected accounts. Intuit says those entries are optional, and you can void the check without them.

The batch tool can't delete any transaction in a closed period. For how closing dates work, see how to close the books and set a closing date.

Step 5: Batch delete or void (Accountant and Enterprise)

Intuit says the Batch Delete/Void Transactions tool is in QuickBooks Desktop Accountant 2018, Enterprise and Enterprise Accountant 18.0, and later versions. You need the admin or External Accountant login. The tool doesn't support multicurrency.

1. 1Go to File > Switch to Single-user Mode. If you see Switch to Multi-user Mode instead, don't select it.
2. 2Go to Accountant > Batch Delete/Void Transactions.
3. 3Narrow the list with the TRANSACTION TYPE dropdown. To filter by entered, last modified or transaction date, use SHOW TRANSACTIONS BY with the FROM and TO fields.
4. 4Check the transactions you want, then select Review & Delete or Review & Void.
5. 5Select Back Up & Delete or Back Up & Void. The dropdowns also offer Delete only or Void only, which skip the backup.
6. 6Select Yes to confirm.
7. 7Select View Deleted/Voided Transaction Report to print a record of what changed.

The Bills option under TRANSACTION TYPE also includes bill payment checks, bill refunds, bill credits, refund checks and finance charges. Check Show linked transactions to see what's linked to each one, in the LINKED TRNS column.

What the batch tool can't delete

• Invoices with reimbursed expenses, time, mileage or items, and invoices with billable time and costs
• Paychecks and payroll liability checks
• Sales tax payments and online bill payments
• Credit card transactions
• Any transaction in a closed period

Delete these one at a time: open the transaction, then go to Edit > Delete. In editions without the batch tool, Intuit's workaround is to press Ctrl+D while the transaction is open.

Edge cases

• A card payment taken through QuickBooks Payments: Intuit says you can void it only before the transaction settles. After that, refund it or give a credit.
• A journal entry: open it from Company > Make General Journal Entries and go to Edit > Delete, or reverse it instead.
• A multicurrency file: Intuit says the batch tool doesn't support multicurrency.

For card payments, see how to refund a customer in QuickBooks Desktop. For journal entries, see how to make and import journal entries.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• Choosing void or delete each time. A deleted check can't be brought back, only re-entered.
• Cleanup one transaction at a time in Pro and Premier, which don't have the batch tool.
• Re-entering the correct check, deposit or bill after you void or delete the wrong one.
• Running the Closing Date Exception Report to catch changes to closed periods.
• Building a new deposit after you delete one, since its payments return to Undeposited Funds.