I have searched the forum for alternatives for this, but it appears all options only include using Custom Field’s - which I have done. I added a Customer Field with the title “Voided Date” for any transaction that is canceled for whatever reason. I then print the the transaction form (after zeroing out any amount, inventory, etc. that is included in the transaction) then reload the paper and print a “VOID” text over top of it. This is personally something I use to keep track of all transactions (completed and non-completed) so they remain in my system.
I am proposing an idea to add this option as a built in feature (adding the “Voided Date” & “VOID” stamp) for other consumers whom like to keep track of all transactions within their business.
I have added photos to show exactly what I’m trying to say as this proposal is quite intense.
What you describe would be very questionable accounting practice. Your zeroing of quantities and amounts means you are not keeping records of these transactions in your records. Instead, you are documenting the fact that you have destroyed records.
Generally, accounting transactions should not be voided. They should be reversed. In many jurisdictions, what you propose would be illegal.
I work in Office Administration in the retail industry as my full time employment. Perhaps what I described wasn’t exactly what I needed to propose.
In the world of retail, in the event someone is backing out of the purchase, the record is NOT destroyed, but voided. The sales date, items, reference #, etc. remains as a record in the system. What I am trying to suggest is not to destroy any type of document, but rather keep record of what has been canceled by a customer. I live in Canada, and this is not illegal in any way - it is general business practice.
In other Accounting Systems (ie. Quickbooks) this option is standard. In the event of a customer canceling an order, Voiding the Sale is to keep record of the transaction and customers account.
Perhaps elsewhere this would be considered poor business practice - which I would never suggest. But in the region that I live in, this is a very common method of keeping track of all transactions going into an accounting system.
What you describe in your second post is a system of informational content not involving transactions. Manager has no such capability. The closest are sales and purchase quotes and orders, which have no financial impact to begin with.
Your method is also unnecessary in the circumstances you describe. A customer backing out of a retail transaction means the transaction has not occurred. If it has already been entered and must be deleted, the History file will record both the original entry and the deletion.
I think the issue is not an accounting document but a businesses management issue. Having a record of customer communication stored with other similar documents (which do contain non zero accounting data) maybe useful to a businesses.
Moving an invoice to a quote may be a solution. I suspect always starting with a quote then copying it to an invoice when finalised may not work as well in a business where most transactions are finalised & quotes are not otherwise used.
You can already achieve the results you desire using a custom theme that would identify when the amounts are zero, but you will have to zero out your amounts manually, either by entering zero in the price field of each line or by introducing a new line with the negative total.
However right now you cannot copy invoices to quote so you will have to attach a pdf of the invoice before voiding.
Edit: I just realized now that the voiding timestamp is not a bad idea but that would require a button for voiding the transaction instead of just inputing zeros. But that’s just me, I can be wrong.
@Tut QB explains that it is better to Void than Delete transactions. See Void or delete transactions
You could argue that indeed the result is informational. Tracking “history” is not a realistic option as daily so many items / activities are recorded in history that it can not really be seen as a proper record. It helps when auditors are tracing some transactions but is not useful for day-to-day. However, I also question the need for this Voiding function merely as I do not see much purpose to keep records of mistakes that are rectified. Deleting is fine with me.
