Simple Book-keeping

8. Cash Businesses

If, like a shop, you sell for cash - as opposed to allowing customers to pay after a credit period - the basic principles are much the same.

8.1 Shops face two particular problems.

• If you take cash (from sales) and spend it (eg on wages), it is easy to lose track of what is going on.
• The tax office (and the VAT office, if you are registered) will always be more suspicious of cash.

8.2 However, there are simple steps you can take to avoid any complications.

• Keep your till rolls or EPoS cash summaries. Use them like sales invoices in your book-keeping.
• Keep a separate record of all money going in and out of the till. Reconcile this record daily or weekly to check that the amounts add up to the actual cash you have.
• If you use money from the till for a purchase, put the receipt in the till immediately.