Accounting Voucher: These vouchers are prepared on the basis of supporting vouchers by the accountant of the company and which are countersigned by an authorized signatory. As soon as it is signed the same is recorded in the books of accounts. A document that serves as evidence of a business transaction is called a Voucher. Sometimes, mistakenly taken as just a bill receipt, a voucher can actually have any form.
Various Types of Vouchers In Accounting
A voucher is an accounting document used by a company’s accounts payable department to gather and file all of the supporting documents needed to approve the payment of a liability. The voucher is an internal accounting control, which ensures that every payment is properly authorized.
What is a Voucher?
The definition of a voucher says that it is a written instrument that serves to confirm or witness (vouch) for some facts such as a transaction. Commonly, a voucher is a document that shows goods that have been bought or services that have been rendered, or it authorizes payments and indicates the ledger account (s) in which these transactions have to be recorded. For example, if you are paying an electricity bill in cash, the two ledgers involved will be power expenses & cash. A payment voucher crediting the cash account & debiting the P&L Account will be passed in this case.
What are the various types of Vouchers?
Normally the following types of vouchers are used:
(i) Receipt Voucher(ii) Payment Voucher(iii) Non-Cash or Transfer Voucher or Journal Voucher(iv) Supporting Voucher
Let us have a detailed look on each of these:
( i ) Receipt Voucher:
A Receipt voucher is used to record cash or bank receipt. Receipt vouchers are of two types which are as follows: (a) Cash receipt voucher – it denotes receipt of cash in hand. (b) Bank receipt voucher – it indicates receipt of a cheque or demand draft i.e. money is not received in the form of cash in hand, instead, the money will be credited to the bank account of the assessee.
(ii) Payment Voucher:
A payment voucher is just the opposite of a cash voucher. In the above, cash/ bank was debited, while in this case, cash or bank will be credited. In the above case, there was an inflow of funds, while in this case, there is an outflow of funds. A Payment voucher is used to record a payment of cash or cheque. Payment vouchers are also of two types which are: (a) Cash Payment voucher – it denotes payment of cash (b) Bank Payment voucher – it indicates payment by cheque or demand draft i.e. money is not paid in the form of cash in hand, instead, the money will be debited from the bank account of the assessee
(iii) Non Cash Or Transfer Voucher or Journal Voucher:
These vouchers are used for non-cash transactions, they are basically used as a documentary evidence. e.g., Goods sold on credit. In such cases, the cash or the bank account of the assessee is unaffected. In the case of Goods sold on credit, the Voucher would debit the Debtor to whom the goods are sold on credit, while sales on credit account would be credited further.
( iv ) Supporting Vouchers:
These vouchers are the documentary evidence of transactions that have happened. For example, you can attach the bill of an expense along with the original voucher just to further support the primary voucher. Petrol Bills attached with the conveyance vouchers are a good example of Supporting Vouchers.
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