Film Accounting Glossary
Voucher
What is a voucher?
Also called payment voucher, or extra voucher.
A voucher is the internal document packaging a payment with its support: the invoice, the purchase order, the approval, the coding, and proof of receipt.
In practice the voucher is the audit trail for a single transaction, and a well-assembled one answers an auditor's questions without anyone needing to remember the circumstances. Extras and background casting also use vouchers, in that case the daily slip recording an extra's hours and wardrobe allowances.
Example
A voucher for a $14,900 payment holds the invoice, the purchase order, the UPM's approval, the account coding, and the delivery note. Assembled properly, it answers an auditor's questions without anyone needing to remember a shoot from 14 months ago.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
One per transaction in the audit file. On the casting side, the same word means the daily slip recording an extra's hours and wardrobe allowances.
Common mistake
Assembling vouchers loosely and relying on memory. A year later nobody recalls the circumstances, and the voucher is all the evidence there is.
Related questions
- What is a payment voucher on a production?
- The packet holding one transaction's support: the invoice, purchase order, approval, coding, and evidence of receipt.
- What is an extra's voucher?
- The daily slip recording a background performer's hours, wardrobe allowances, and any bumps, which is the source document for their payment.