Guides
How to keep books that several people share — and still have them add up at the end of the month. Written for shopkeepers, traders, chit-fund organisers and anybody who holds money that is not only theirs.
Four rules for a ledger more than one person writes in
The date, the note, the missing name, and one payment recorded twice from opposite ends — the four places a book with several writers breaks, and what each one costs.
Read it · 6 minBookkeeping for a chit fund or committee: what to record, and when
A 20-member fund at ₹5,000 a month: the entries an organiser writes on auction day, and the ones that answer a member two years after the fund closes.
Read it · 5 minRunning a shop's udhaar book without it becoming bad debt
Why a ₹1,450 sale and a ₹1,000 payment belong on two lines, how to set a ceiling for each customer before you need it, and what the age of a balance tells you that its size does not.
Read it · 6 minKeeping UPI and cash in one book without losing track of either
The drawer says one thing, the phone says another. How to record the method with every amount, and a two-minute closing check that shows you the gap the same day.
Read it · 6 minClosing the month on a shared udhaar book
What \"closed\" actually means when somebody has to put their name to a figure, how to count the drawer against the cash entries only, and what to do when an October payment turns up in the second week of November.
Read it · 6 minWho should be allowed to edit the books
Who in your shop or committee should be able to add an entry, who should be able to change one, and why editing and deletion belong to a very short list.
Read it · 6 minMoney promised is not money received
A balance that counts advances, uncleared cheques and part-payments tells you about money you cannot put your hand on. How to write a promise down without letting it into the total.
Read it · 6 minHow to read a day-wise report and catch the mistakes the next morning
The total is the last thing to check on a day-wise report. What to read first, and the errors that survive a figure that looks right.
Read it · 5 min