Question
I voided a transaction, but that transaction still affects my accounting balances. How is this supposed to work?
Answer
A "Transaction Void" is a separate transaction that will have its own journal entry, separate from the original transaction that was voided. The original transaction does not change in any way other than being marked as "voided". The new transaction void creates the reverse journal entries for the original transaction so the total balance for a person/account will correctly reflect the void. The separate transaction void transaction allows users to void out transactions in past accounting periods that may have already been closed out without changing balances in those past months.
Here is an example:
A check payment of $100 is received from a tenant for rent on Jan 31. The check is deposited into the bank account on the same day. This causes a debit of $100 to the bank account and a credit of $100 to rent income.
On Feb 5, the accountant reconciles and closes out the month of January.
The check bounces due to NSF a week later on Feb 7. The accountant creates a transaction void dated Feb 7, which credits the bank account for $100 and debits rent income for $100.
The original invoice payment will still show up in the bank account and tenant transaction list as changing the balance by $100, but that $100 is reversed on Feb 7 when the void is created.
If there are any linked deposits or prepayment applications, those will automatically be voided as well. Deposits might also contain other payments, in which case only the deposit line items for the voided payment will be voided.