How to set up a voucher system in QBO

You can setup one voucher as a one project

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/manage-projects/set-create-projects-q...

And I can record deposits and expenses to projects without affecting the rest of my books? When making a deposit would I choose to deposit it to the project? I don't need to deposit to a bank account? 

Hello there, Apples521.

I'll add some information to help you set up a voucher system in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

As 4gal said, you can set up the voucher system in the software as a project.

Projects help you track your income and expenses without affecting your business finances in the program. To begin with, here's how to create a project:

1. In QuickBooks Online, go to Projects.
2. Select New project, then add a name in the Project name field.
3. Choose a customer in the Customer dropdown,
4. Enter a Start date and End date.
5. Determine the status in the Project Status dropdown.
6. Click on Save once done.

You can refer to this article for more information: Create and manage projects in QuickBooks Online.

On the other hand, when creating a deposit, you need to assign it to the correct project name and bank account. However, it will depend on the date of the deposit if it affects your books or not. It's not affected if it's on the current date and not when previous transactions were reconciled.

Also, I recommend contacting your accountant for advice when recording your income and expense transactions for the voucher. You can visit this page to look for one: Find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor.

Moreover, you can refer to this article to keep track of your project finances if you're using QBO Advanced:

• Compare project cost estimates vs. actuals in QuickBooks Online Advanced
• Use project reports in QuickBooks Online Advanced

If you have additional questions about projects and other related concerns in QuickBooks Online, inform us immediately in the Community. We'll be around to help.

If I need to record the $500 they allot us each month to a bank account, would setting up as a project offer any advantage over just setting up a voucher bank account in qbo and writing checks from it? I could just uncheck that voucher bank account when running statements so it doesn't include that as part of our total banking balance correct? 

If doing it this way, I'd use one of our current categories, such as gasoline assistance when writing a check and issuing the voucher correct? Would I need to create a voucher class or just leave blank? We have classes for our other programs such as food program, youth program and general. But those have real cash activity, whereas the vouchers we just administer but want to track monthly allotment and spending while not including as part of our overall bank account balances.

Thanks for getting back to us, @Apples521. 

I can help answer your follow-up questions. 

Yes, you can consider simply setting up a dedicated bank account to track the monthly contributions and voucher redemptions. This is a more straightforward approach.

On the other hand, if you decide to use the project feature, you'll perform the same function of making a deposit and writing a check. Only, in this case, you'll do them from within the project, and you'll still need the voucher bank account to have something to record against. The advantage of the project feature is that it allows you better tracking of the vouchers and run project-specific reports. You can refer to this article for the detailed steps on using the project feature: Create and manage projects in QuickBooks Online.

Furthermore, when running the financial reports, please know that the voucher bank account will show in the Balance Sheet report. You can, however, exclude it when running your Income Statement by filtering the Distribution account. 

Regarding the class, you can leave it blank since this program doesn't have real cash activity. I also recommend consulting your bookkeeper or accountant to determine the best way to handle this.

To help you in the task of customizing financial reports, let me add this article as a reference: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

We'll be here in the Community if you have further follow-up questions about creating a voucher system in QBO. We're committed to offering ongoing support. Take care.