Reverse the assumption that payment is complete, verify the bank outcome and agree a replacement payment without losing the debt records.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
A cheque receipt has disappeared from available cash
A glazing company deposits a customer’s cheque and marks the invoice paid. The following day the owner schedules a supplier transfer against that receipt. The cheque is then returned unpaid. The customer says it was a mistake and offers another cheque, but the glazing company first needs to know what happened to the original deposit and whether its own transfer can still be funded.
Obtain the returned-item notice and check the account balance and transaction history. Ask the bank to explain any unclear status or charges. Keep a copy of the cheque and deposit record.
Do not treat an initial credit as proof that the money is finally available. Use the bank’s confirmed position when deciding what funds can support the next payment.
Record the reversal and identify which invoice the cheque was meant to pay. Preserve the original receipt and correction rather than deleting the transaction history. Reconcile any part payments separately.
Check the contract before adding returned-payment charges or interest. A bank fee you incurred is not automatically an amount you can recover from the customer on any terms you choose.
Contact the customer through a known channel, explain the returned payment and request a method and date that can be verified. Confirm payment instructions securely if bank details are exchanged.
Avoid assuming dishonesty from one returned cheque. But do not release more goods on the same untested assurance. Review the credit position and any existing contractual commitments before changing supply.
Move the receipt out of available cash and revise payments that depended on it. Business.gov.au’s forecasting guidance focuses on incoming and outgoing timing; a returned receipt changes that timing immediately.
If replacement money does not arrive as agreed, choose the next recovery step using the contract, invoice and payment evidence. Keep ordinary follow-up separate from any formal notice already received.
