Vouchering

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of entering or processing vouchers, which are documents confirming a transaction or expenditure, within financial or administrative systems
2. Performing the procedure of managing voucher documents to ensure proper recording and authorization in accounting or business environments
3. Carrying out the task of documenting and verifying vouchers as part of bookkeeping or administrative processes for validation and record-keeping purposes

Etymology: "Vouchering" is the present participle of "voucher," so its real story belongs to the verb it comes from. That verb was formed from the noun "voucher," which itself grows out of "vouch," a word meaning to affirm or guarantee something, with the suffix "-er" added to turn it into a noun for a document or person that does the vouching. In other words, a voucher is literally a thing that vouches for something. The verb "to voucher" came later, as people began using the noun as an action: to support an account or expense with a voucher, and eventually to process such documents. Processing financial vouchers is the sense that "vouchering" describes, so the participle carries the idea of checking and certifying a payment record in the course of bookkeeping.

Synonyms: certifying, verifying