How do I annotate register entry when payee does not cash check sent from my bank.

Question

My bank, per Quicken instructions, sent a check payment to one of my payees. That payee, for the last 6 months, has not cashed the check although they have given me credit for it. I'm assuming that the payee did receive it but probably lost it on the way to the bank for deposit. How do I reconcile my transaction register? Do I just delete the entry, void it or what?

q_lurker · Answer

Then there is always the point of talking to your payee (assuming a person or small business rather than a Fortune 500).  They may be feeling embarrassed about losing the check even after crediting you for the payment.  They might also be wondering what happened.  They might appreciate you for trying to make things right.

GeoffG · Answer

I would advise against deleting the entry. That is your record of what transpired. What I would do in this situation is change the amount to zero, add the amount to the memo field and explain what has transpired thus far.
You do not mention the amount. If it is small, you can move on. If it is a large amount that you do not want possibly hitting you when least expected, you might consider for a fee placing a stop pay on the check and even reissue.

Chris_QPW · Answer

That is one of the difficult questions in life!
I don't know about the checks that the financial institution sends, but with personal checks there isn't any expiration date.  Which means someone could in theory cash one of they 20 years later!  At least that is how I have always understood it to be.

So as there doesn't seem to be a hard fast rule for this, but I would probably mark it void.  Note that if you use the void feature in Quicken it will zero out the amount.  I would put the amount in the memo field before voiding it/zeroing the amount.