This topic discusses checks that will never be cashed or clear the bank: unusuable checks and voided checks.
A check is considered unusable if Costpoint has never recognized it as a check and the unused check will never be used in the future. Unusable checks can exist if you use checks with the check numbers preprinted. If you use blank laser checks, you will not experience problems with unusable checks.
Unusable checks are typically the result of damage or user error that occurs to the check before the check is recorded in Costpoint. After you print checks, Costpoint displays a dialog box to tell you that checks were printed but not yet recorded.
Click OK to record the checks into Check History and unposted Cash Disbursements. The checks and their corresponding numbers are added to Costpoint data tables as valid checks.
Click Cancel to halt the process. Costpoint does not know that these checks (and their corresponding check numbers, vendors, and currency amounts) were printed.
It could be that you used the incorrect starting check number, which did not match the pre-printed number on the check, and you then canceled the run. Alternatively, it could be that you made payments that you had not intended to make, and you canceled the run. If only a few of the checks are unusable, you may want to accept the entire check run, then void those checks that cannot be used.
There are other ways that checks become unusable such as when a check is used as a test check for printer alignment, when a check has been written on, or when a check is rendered unusable for any other reason. When a check becomes unusable, enter the pre-printed check number via the Manage Unusable Checks screen.
The second type of check that will never clear the bank is a voided check. To be voided, a check must first be an existing check, a check that was printed and accepted.
You may need to void a check because it was:
Lost or destroyed in the mail
Issued for an incorrect amount
Issued to the incorrect vendor
If a check is lost in the mail, you need to void it so that another check can be issued. You should also ask your bank for a Stop Payment order.
To void checks, complete the following steps:
Select the Void Checks option in the Select Print Option group box on the Print/Void Checks screen.
In the Void Date field, enter the date on which the check should be voided.
In the Check Number Information group box, enter the check number and original check date. Costpoint then flags the check as void and resets the status of the check's vouchers to Hold.
Re-select the vouchers for payment (approval may be necessary) and issue a replacement check via the Print/Void Checks screen.
If a check was issued to a vendor for too little money, use one of two options to correct the situation.
To adjust, you can issue a manual check for the difference. You must still enter an A/P voucher for the amount of the difference in Accounts Payable.
You can also adjust for underpayment by voiding the original check (see the procedure above). You have another two options at this point:
You can enter an A/P voucher for the difference and print a new check for the combined total.
You can issue a correcting voucher for the amount of the original check, enter an A/P voucher for the entire amount that should have been used, and then print the check. When you post the correcting voucher, you can select it for payment with the original voucher(s) and Costpoint clears them from the open A/P files when you print the next check run.
When Costpoint finds a set of vouchers for a vendor that will result in a zero check, it changes the status of the vouchers to Paid and gives them a check number, although nothing is printed, and considers the items closed.
If a check was issued to a vendor for too much money, you must:
Void the check (see the step-by-step procedure, above).
Enter a correcting voucher.
Issue a check for the corrected amount.
You have two more options at this point. You can enter a correcting A/P voucher for the difference between the correct amount and the incorrect check's amount, then print a new check for the net total.
If you do not adjust for the difference, you can issue a correcting voucher for the entire amount of the original check, then enter an Accounts Payable voucher for the entire amount that should have originally been used and print the check. When you post the correcting voucher, you can select it for payment with the original voucher(s) and Costpoint clears them from the open A/P files when you print the next check run.
When Costpoint finds a set of vouchers for a vendor that will result in a zero check, it changes the status of the vouchers to Paid and gives them a check number, although nothing is printed, and considers them closed.
Use the Print/Void Checks screen to void the original check. If the check needs to be voided because it was issued too early, you need do nothing more at this time. The vouchers are reset to a status of Hold when the check is voided and are then available to be paid. When the vouchers become due, you can process them in the normal fashion with the rest of the vouchers to be included in that check run.
If the check should not have been issued because the expenses should not have been incurred or the incorrect vendor was put on the voucher, prepare correcting vouchers for the amount of the original voucher(s). When you post the correcting vouchers, you can select them for payment with the original vouchers and Costpoint clears them from the open A/P files when you print the next check run.
If Costpoint finds a set of vouchers for a vendor that will result in a zero check, it changes the status of the vouchers to Paid and gives them a check number, although nothing is printed, and considers them to be closed.