Know which cheques are in hand, which are with the bank, and which bounced

Yes — post-dated cheques are the main case it is built for. A cheque is recorded when you take it, with its own date, and sits in Pending until it is presented. The register shows what is still outstanding and floats overdue items to the top, so you are working from the system rather than a spreadsheet and a drawer.

Not when clearing accounts are enabled. The cheque is held as an asset — first in Cheques in Hand, then in Cheques Under Collection once it is with the bank — and only reaches the bank account when it actually clears. That is what stops your bank balance claiming money that has not arrived.

No. It is a setting, and on existing accounts it is off until you switch it on. When you do, it applies to cheques recorded from that point forward — past accounts are never restated. A new business can enable it from the start.

Marking it bounced reverses the position the cheque was holding: the receivable goes back on the customer and the asset comes off. The bank's charges are captured against the same cheque, so the cost of the bounce is attached to the event that caused it rather than appearing as an unexplained fee at reconciliation. The cheque can then be replaced, and the replacement keeps a link to the original.

Yes, both directions. A cheque you issue is carried as a liability from the moment it is written until it is presented and clears, so your bank position reflects what is genuinely still committed rather than only what has already left the account.

Yes. Viewing, depositing, clearing, bouncing and cancelling are separate permissions, so a clerk can record and deposit cheques while only a manager can clear, bounce or cancel one. Clearing and bouncing move money, which is why they are separated rather than bundled into a single right.