Vouchers represent any invoice or bill that the agency must pay in the future. Vouchers can be due to any entity, for anything from office supplies to return premiums. The Vouchers (Accounts Payable) window provides options to enter, update, and track vouchers paid or due to be paid by the agency. Through these programs, the agency can accrue expenses when they are received and process them when they become due. Accruing such expenses gives a more accurate picture of the agency's expense and liability status.
Accounts payable vouchers are similar to cash disbursements. In a sense, a voucher is a cash disbursement due to be paid at a future date. Vouchers are entered similarly to cash disbursements, including offsetting accounts. Vouchers differ from cash disbursements in that all types of vouchers are offset to the Pending Payables account for later payment, whereas cash disbursements are offset to a cash journal for immediate payment.
Entering vouchers forces bills received to affect the Income Statement and Balance Sheet immediately, rather than when the bill is paid. You can designate a voucher to be processed as a check or as a miscellaneous disbursement (e.g., an electronic fund transfer, which does not require a check to be printed). When a voucher is processed, the disbursement created credits the appropriate cash journal, debits the Pending Payables, and, if a discount is applicable (depending on the date the item is paid), credits Discounts Taken. At month-end, vouchers are summarized into a single journal entry that credits Pending Payables and debits each expense account indicated on the vouchers and, if necessary, the Discounts Taken account.
Note: The voucher features are optional. If your agency operates on a cash accounting system or if you do not wish to accrue expenses, you do not have to use vouchers. Pay the bills as they are received or when they are due without recording them or impacting your General Ledger before they are paid.
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