How do I cancel an uncashed (stale dated) cheque?

Hi there, 

QuickBooks makes it easy to void a cheque. I'd be glad to walk you through the steps. 

When the chequ hasn’t been cashed, and wasn’t included in your previous reconciliation, you can void it by following the steps below:

1.     Select Accounting from the left menu.
2.     Select Chart of Accounts at the top.
3.     Select the bank account the check you need to void was recorded under and choose View Register.
4.     Locate the desired cheque and click to highlight.
5.     Click Edit.
6.     On the bottom center click More and select Void.
7.     Confirm Are you sure you want to void this cheque? by selecting Yes.

However, if the check was included in your previous reconciliations, you’ll need to undo the reconciliation then delete the transaction. Once done, you can then redo the reconciliation process. Feel free to ask questions. I'm here to help. :) 

What do you do if the stale dated cheque is in the past year end that is closed?

What about the implications of the taxes due?

Hi Danc2,

Thanks for joining us here.  I see you've reached out on another thread for a resolution for the uncashed cheque.  In addition, you can adjust the sales tax when you prepare the return.  If you require additional assistance with this, I recommend reaching out to your accountant.  If you don't have one, we can help you locate a ProAdvisor in your local area.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach back out.  We'd be happy to assist!

how would you handle a stale dated cheque that was in the last 6 months reconciliations, and was written in 2023.

Hello PMPC9. Glad to have you contact us here. I'll be happy to guide you towards the right path so you can get the resolution you need. To get started, you'll first need to unreconcile the transaction in question in order to follow the steps provided in the threads above. Here's a helpful resource that shows you how to unreconcile in QuickBooks. I encourage you to check it out and reach back to me in case you have other questions. I'm here to help. 

This is not an efficient solution. Cheques do not stale date for 6 months meaning the user would have to unreconciled all individual transactions manually for the past 6 months, very time consuming and tedious. Ideally the user could specify what date the cheque is to be "Voided" in QuickBooks which you cannot currently do, meaning it may change prior year financials if the cheque was issued in a prior year. If the user can specify the date the cheque is voided, it would then drop off the bank rec for that specific period and the bill would become open again, payment be reissued or bill to be written off depending on the circumstance. 

I have a stale dated check, I voided the check, and re-issued the check.  Do I need to do a Journal entry?

I have a stale-dated check that I voided, and re-issued payment.  Do I need to create any time of journal entry? The check was issued 7/11/24, the check was replaced on 7/19/25.

If you included this cheque and voided it in a past reconciliation, @ClaudiaS_25, you'll need to unreconcile the previous months up to the month it was recorded, instead of creating a journal entry.

This ensures a $0 difference during reconciliation, as it can affect future reconciliations and bank statement references. I also recommend consulting your accountant for professional advice.

If your accountant uses QuickBooks Online Accountant, they can quickly unreconcile transactions. Check the Undo a client's reconciliation in QuickBooks Online Accountant article for steps. If you don’t have an accountant, you can find one here.

Otherwise, after consulting your accountant, manually reconcile transactions up to the reconciliation where the stale check was voided. Please follow the steps below:

1. Select the Gear icon on the Toolbar.
2. Under Your Company, select Chart of Accounts.
3. Locate the appropriate account for the transaction.
4. From the Action column, select Account history.
5. Identify the transaction to edit.
6. In the reconcile status column (indicated by a check mark), repeatedly select the top line of the transaction to change the status of the transaction:
   • C - Cleared.
   • R - Reconciled.
   • Blank - Not cleared or reconciled.
7. Select Save.

Please let us know if you need more assistance.

The dates on your cheques are a year apart.  Which could mean you voided a cheque from a previous year end.  Making changes to book work after a year end will cause some accounting problems for your accountant.  Also, voiding a cheque from that long ago means you now have to fix your reconciliations as mentioned in another reply to your question.