QuickBooksHelpIntuit

Void or delete transactions in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop

by Intuit•2098• Updated about 17 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, bill payments, payments, and sales orders.

Go to All apps , then Sales & Get Paid, then Sales transactions (Take me there).
Find the sales transaction you want to void or delete.
In the Action column, select the dropdown ▼, then select Void or Delete.

Void or delete an expense transaction

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

Go to All apps , then Expenses & Bills, then Expense transactions (Take me there).
Find the expense transaction you want to void or delete.
In the Action column, select the dropdown ▼, then select Void or Delete.

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.

Go to the File menu, then select Switch to Single-user mode.
Go to the Accountant menu, then select Batch Delete/Void Transactions.
Select the checkboxes for the transactions you want to remove or void.
Select Review & Delete or Review & Void.
Select Back Up & Delete or Back Up & Void, or proceed without a backup by selecting Delete/Void Transactions.
Select Yes to confirm.

Transactions that cannot be batch deleted

These must be deleted individually:

Paychecks and payroll liability checks
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 VOID 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.