Voucher cannot be reversed, edited, cancelled or deleted: posted vouchers only reverse
Edit, Cancel draft and Delete disappear once a voucher is posted, Reverse is refused or the reversal date is rejected: a posted voucher is never changed, only mirrored by a reversal dated on or after it.
Messages this explains
- “This voucher has already been reversed.”
- “Only a Posted voucher can be reversed (this one is <status>)”
- “The reversal date cannot be before the original voucher date.”
- “A <status> voucher cannot be edited; post a reversal instead”
- “A <status> voucher cannot be edited. Post a reversal instead.”
- “Only a Draft voucher can be deleted”
- “Only a Draft voucher can be cancelled; post a reversal instead”
- “Reversed by <no> dated <date>. The entries below no longer affect balances on their own.”
- “This draft was cancelled; it never reached the ledger.”
- “Only a Posted run can be reversed (this one is <status>)”
- “Reverse run <no> first: later runs start from this one”
Voucher cannot be reversed, edited, cancelled or deleted: posted vouchers only reverse
What you see
On the voucher page:
- Once the voucher is Posted, the Edit, Cancel draft and Delete buttons are gone and Reverse appears in their place. If you reach the edit page anyway (an old link or the browser's back button), it shows "A <status> voucher cannot be edited. Post a reversal instead." with the link Open the voucher. A save attempted from a stale form answers "A <status> voucher cannot be edited; post a reversal instead".
- A stale page can also answer "Only a Draft voucher can be deleted" or "Only a Draft voucher can be cancelled; post a reversal instead".
- In the Reverse <number>? dialog, as a banner when you press Post reversal: "The reversal date cannot be before the original voucher date.", "This voucher has already been reversed." or "Only a Posted voucher can be reversed (this one is <status>)". The Reversal date field's hint reads "On or after the original date, in an open period."
- A yellow banner on a reversed voucher: "Reversed by <number> dated <date>. The entries below no longer affect balances on their own." The reversal itself carries the blue banner "This voucher reverses <number> dated <date>."
- A yellow banner on a cancelled draft: "This draft was cancelled; it never reached the ledger."
The same date rule reaches other screens that reverse a voucher for you: cancelling an issued demand or an approved commission, and the Cancel booking wizard's credit notes, all show "The reversal date cannot be before the original voucher date." when the cancellation date is earlier than the entry being reversed. A revenue run answers "Only a Posted run can be reversed (this one is <status>)" or "Reverse run <no> first: later runs start from this one".
Why it happens
A posted voucher is part of the audit trail of the books. Changing or deleting it would rewrite history that reports, bills and closed periods already rely on, so the app never edits, cancels or deletes a posted voucher. The only way to undo one is a reversal: a mirrored voucher, posted at once, with every debit and credit swapped. Bills the original opened are settled back and bills it settled are reopened. Both vouchers stay visible and linked; the original moves to Reversed and its lines no longer count on their own.
From that follow the rules:
- Only a Posted voucher can be reversed. A Draft is cancelled or deleted instead (both keep it out of the ledger; a cancelled draft stays on record as Cancelled, a deleted one disappears). A Cancelled or Reversed voucher has nothing left to undo.
- A voucher reverses once. A second attempt, for example from a page opened before the first reversal, is refused.
- The reversal is dated on or after the original. Dating it earlier would change balances of a period the original was not yet in, so the dialog will not accept an earlier date, and the date must also fall in an open fiscal year and an unlocked period. Demand, commission and booking cancellations use the cancellation date as the reversal date, which is why a backdated cancellation is refused.
- Revenue runs reverse in order. Each run starts from the one before it, so only the latest posted run of the books can be reversed.
Reverse needs the Post permission on Vouchers; Edit and Cancel draft need the Edit permission, Delete the Delete permission. Without them the buttons are not shown.
How to fix it
- You need to correct a posted voucher. Press Reverse, keep or adjust the narration, press Post reversal (the Post permission on Vouchers), then enter the correct entry as a new voucher. The toast "Reversed by <number>." confirms it.
- Reversal date rejected. Set Reversal date to the original voucher's date or later, in an open period. For a demand, commission or booking cancellation, choose a cancellation date on or after the entry being reversed.
- Already reversed. Reload the voucher page: the yellow "Reversed by" banner names the reversal and links to it. The correction is already in the books. If the reversal itself was wrong, reverse the reversal and start again.
- Not a Posted voucher. For a draft, use Cancel draft or Delete on the voucher page. For a Cancelled or Reversed voucher there is nothing to undo.
- Stale edit page. Press Open the voucher and work from the current page.
- Period locked or year closed. Ask someone with the Edit permission on Books to unlock the period on Fiscal years, or date the reversal in an open period.
- Revenue run. Reverse the later runs first, newest to oldest, then the one you need.
Related
Related
- VoucherScreen
One voucher with its lines and bill allocations, its reversal links, its history, and the actions to post, reverse, cancel or delete it.
- Edit voucher draftScreen
Change a draft voucher's details, lines and bill allocations before it is posted, then save it or post it.
- DemandScreen
One demand: the installments it bills, its amounts with GST, the expected TDS and what is payable in money, the receipts and TDS credits against it and how the money is placed on the charges, with the actions to edit, issue, cancel or delete it.
- CommissionScreen
One channel-partner commission: the partner, the brokerage with GST and TDS, the payouts against it, and the actions to edit, approve, cancel or delete it.
- Revenue runScreen
One period close: what each booking and member offer recognises, the journals and cost moves it posts, the subjects it left out, and the actions to recompute, post, reverse or delete it.
- Cancel bookingScreen
The four-step wizard that cancels a booking: it shows the demands and receipts that will be reversed, suggests the forfeiture and charges from the rule in force, sets the refund and posts everything in one go, releasing the unit and parking and marking the opportunity lost.
- Fiscal yearsScreen
The fiscal years of a set of books with their 12 monthly periods: lock or unlock a month, open the next year, and close or reopen a year at year end.
- Voucher cannot be posted: unbalanced, missing lines, retired ledgers or bill allocations that do not matchTroubleshooting
Save and post or Post is greyed out, the draft saves but posting fails, or the form refuses a line: the balance, line, ledger, voucher-type and bill-allocation rules a voucher must meet before it reaches the ledger.
- "These books are inactive": nothing posts until the books are reactivatedTroubleshooting
Posting a voucher, issuing a demand, recording a payment, starting a run or cancelling a booking is refused because the promoter's books are inactive; what is blocked and how to reactivate them.