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Void or delete transactions in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop

by Intuit•183• Updated about 23 hours ago

Void or delete transactions created by mistake to maintain accurate account balances. For record-keeping purposes, voiding is recommended over deleting because it keeps a record of the transaction in your books without affecting your totals.

Important: After you delete a transaction, you can’t get it back.

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What you'll need

  • Access to QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop.
  • External receipts or emails for the transaction to make sure it's a mistake.
  • For batch processing in QuickBooks Desktop: Admin or external accountant login and the company file set to Single-user mode.


Void or delete a sales transaction

You can delete any sales transaction, but you can only void invoices, payments, and sales orders.

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window
  2. Find the sales transaction you want to void or delete.
  3. From the Action column, select the dropdown â–Ľ, then select Void or Delete.
  4. Select Void invoice or Delete to confirm.
    Note: The name of the option may differ depending on the type of transaction.


Void or delete an expense transaction

You can delete any expense transaction, but you can only void cheques, expenses, and bill payments.

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window
  2. Find the expense transaction you want to void or delete.
  3. From the Action column, select the dropdown â–Ľ, then select Void or Delete.
  4. Select Void or Delete to confirm.


Batch manage transactions in QuickBooks Desktop

For QuickBooks Desktop Accountant 2018, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Accountant, or Enterprise Accountant 18.0 and later, you can use the Batch Delete/Void Transactions (BDT) utility.

  1. Go to File and select Switch to Single-user Mode.
  2. Go to Accountant and select Batch Delete/Void Transactions.
  3. From the Transaction Type â–Ľ dropdown, select the transaction type you want to remove or void.
  4. Select the checkboxes for the transactions you want to remove or void.
  5. Select Review & Delete or Review & Void.
  6. Select Back Up & Delete or Back Up & Void, or proceed without a backup by selecting Delete only or Void only.
  7. Select Yes to confirm.

These must be deleted individually:

  • Paycheques and payroll withholding amount cheques.
  • Sales tax payments or online bill payments.
  • Transactions in closed periods.
  • Credit card transactions.
  • Invoices with billable time, costs, or reimbursed expenses.


Results

Any transaction you void has its amount changed to zero, and is marked Voided in your records. Deleted transactions are removed everywhere other than your audit log, but the transaction numbers don’t change.



Next steps

If you need to unvoid a transaction, delete it and create a new one with the correct information. You can also use the audit log to re-enter a deleted transaction.



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