Mark a check Void (Q Mac)

gwpotter
gwpotter Member ✭✭
I wrote a check to cleaner. She lost the check. I want to replace the check & keep a record of it. How do I mark the lost check as "Void" in the register?

Best Answer

  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Answer ✓
    In QMac for some reason, you can't use payee "VOID". If you enter that, it gets blanked out. Therefore, I created a payee "*VOID*". When I need to void a check, I change the Payee to *VOID*, change the amount to $0.00, change the category to VOID (a custom category), leave the check number in place, and enter in the memo, the name of the original payee, the amount and the reason for voiding.

    There is no one-click check voiding function in QMac, but I don't find the above process a big deal at all. After all, you don't void checks very often. Looking at my check register, I have done it 66 times over a period of 22 years, average of 3 times per year. And most of those where when I used to write a lot more check than currently.
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s

Answers

  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Answer ✓
    In QMac for some reason, you can't use payee "VOID". If you enter that, it gets blanked out. Therefore, I created a payee "*VOID*". When I need to void a check, I change the Payee to *VOID*, change the amount to $0.00, change the category to VOID (a custom category), leave the check number in place, and enter in the memo, the name of the original payee, the amount and the reason for voiding.

    There is no one-click check voiding function in QMac, but I don't find the above process a big deal at all. After all, you don't void checks very often. Looking at my check register, I have done it 66 times over a period of 22 years, average of 3 times per year. And most of those where when I used to write a lot more check than currently.
    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    I have a slightly different approach. Adding some variant of "void" to the Payee name creates a new Payee. If I ever need to look up a voided transaction, I'd rather have it listed with other transactions for the original Payee. And I also want to know how much the voided transaction was originally for. So I…
    • Don't change the Payee name at all
    • Add/Edit the Memo Notes field to show the original transaction amount and reason, such as "VOID: originally $50.00 (Check never received)"
    • Change the Amount to zero
    • No need to change the Category
    If I need to search for this transaction later, searching for the Payee name will find it, as will searching for "void".

    And as RickO says, most of us don't void many checks (I've got 18 over 25+ years), and write many fewer checks now than in days gone by.

    One interesting footnote for any of us who came from Quicken Mac 2007 and earlier: All your Voids are now hard to find, because the importer into modern Quicken Mac stripped out the "VOID" prefix used in Quicken 2007. So if you had a transaction with a Payee named "VOIDPayee" in Quicken 2007, in your current Quicken database it will be just "Payee"; the "void" is gone. (@RickO : I'm curious how you found all your void transactions? A search for Amount=0.00 doesn't work. I couldn't find all my voids until I opened by Quicken 2007 data file and did a Quick Search for Void.) 

    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • RickO
    RickO SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    @jacobs  In my file, my "*VOID*" payees go back to to 1999, so I must have been using that in QM2007 and before. I don't remember why.

    I kind of like your method better. I may switch to that. I'd probably add one thing: put VOID in the Action column.

    When I look at my voided transactions, the vast majority have nothing in the memo. This means I was writing a check and screwed it up somehow. Basically just recording it so there's not a gap in the check sequence. Essentially a skipped check.

    Many of the rest are those that are sent to, for example, start up a direct debit/deposit. Those say that in the memo and use a category of VOID. 

    Very very few are checks that were actually sent and then voided because lost/not cashed/transaction canceled, etc.


    Quicken Mac Subscription; Quicken Mac user since the early 90s
  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    RickO said:
    I'd probably add one thing: put VOID in the Action column.
    That's a good idea. Except after switching from Quicken 2007 to modern Quicken Mac, I decided I really didn't need the Action column, so I have it hidden in my registers. ;)
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
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