Cheques and banks
Collect or bounce a cheque
Move a received cheque into your bank or cash account when it clears, in one go or in parts, and reverse it if the bank returns it unpaid.
3 min readLast updated
In this article
A cheque you receive sits in a holding account, such as cheques under collection, until the bank pays it. Collecting the cheque moves its value from that account into the bank or cash account where the money actually lands. If the bank returns the cheque unpaid, you bounce it, and the system reverses its entries.
Collect a cheque
You can collect a received cheque that is not yet fully collected, bounced, cancelled or void.
Open Accounting › Cheques and find the cheque. Filter by Status to see the cheques still to collect.
Open the row's Actions menu and select Collect, or open the cheque and select Collect at the top of the page.
In Amount, enter what the bank paid. The hint under the field shows what is left to collect, which is the most you can enter. Enter less to record a partial collection.
Choose the Collection account: the bank or cash account that received the money. It must be a different account from the one holding the cheque.
Enter a Note, for example the bank's deposit reference. The note is required.
Select Collect.
What happens next
The books: the collection account is debited and the account holding the cheque is credited with the amount.
The cheque: Collected rises by the amount. The status becomes Partly collected after a partial collection, and Collected once nothing is left.
The cheque page: each collection appears under Collections with its date, amount, account, journal number, note and the user who recorded it.
Bounce a cheque
Only a cheque with a collection recorded on it can bounce. A cheque that was never collected has nothing to reverse: delete it instead if it was recorded by mistake.
Find the cheque in Accounting › Cheques.
Open the row's Actions menu and select Bounce, or select Bounce on the cheque page.
Enter the Bounced date: the date the bank returned the cheque.
Enter the Bounce reason, up to 500 characters.
Select Bounce.
What happens next
The books: as the dialog says, bouncing reverses the journal entries of the cheque and its collection. The reversal is dated on the bounced date, so that date's fiscal year must be open.
The cheque: the status and the bank reconciliation status become Bounced, and the collected amount returns to zero.
Bank reconciliation: if the cheque was matched to a bank statement line, the match is removed and the line returns to unmatched.
Common questions
Can I collect a cheque I issued? No. Collection is for received cheques. A released cheque is recorded against your bank when you issue it.
The system says to choose another account. You chose the account that already holds the cheque. Choose the bank or cash account that received the money.
Why don't I see Bounce? Bouncing needs the bank reconciliation permission, and it only appears for a cheque with a collection.