what is a voucher 
a voucher is a 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 governments may also issue vouchers redeemable for various programs such as for school choice housing or social welfare initiatives a voucher may also refer to a document such as a coupon or ticket that is redeemable for some good or service this is prominent in the hospitality industry for instance airlines hotels and restaurants may issue vouchers that can be exchanged for rooms flights or fares understanding vouchersa voucher is essentially the backup document for accounts payable accounts payable are the short term bills owed by companies to vendors and suppliers the voucher is important because it s an internal accounting control mechanism that ensures that every payment is properly authorized and that the goods or services purchased are actually received companies have various short term financial obligations to suppliers and vendors throughout an accounting period a company might need to buy inventory or raw materials from suppliers that are used in the production of the company s goods the suppliers essentially grant an extension of credit to the company allowing for payment to be made in the near future such as 30 60 or 90 days a voucher is a form that includes all of the supporting documents showing the money owed and any payments to a supplier or vendor for an outstanding payable the voucher and the necessary documents are recorded in the voucher register requirements of a vouchersome of the supporting documents in a voucher can include vouchers often contain expiration dates in addition to various terms conditions and restrictions be sure to understand these in order to redeem them successfully special considerationsthe total amount of all the vouchers that have outstanding balances owed is recorded as accounts payable on the balance sheet once the voucher has been paid the proof of payment is included in the voucher and recorded as a paid voucher the company s vouchers serve as a key source of evidence when an audit is performed an auditor performs a set of procedures to determine if the financial statements are free of material misstatement vouchers document that the goods purchased were actually received which supports the auditor s assertion that the goods and services posted to the financial statements truly exist vouchers also justify the firm s cash payments to vendors and document the general ledger accounts used to post the transaction using a voucher system also reduces the risk of employees colluding to steal company assets businesses employ segregation of duties to prevent employee theft which means that critical tasks are assigned to different people within the organization the voucher documents that the tasks are performed by multiple people and creates a paper trail so that an auditor can confirm that the duties were properly segregated example of a vouchera local restaurant orders meat and fish every few days from its vendors the restaurant manager fills out a purchase order for 30 pounds of meat and the owner initials the purchase order to approve the shipment 