Guide · Accounts
How to keep a cashbook for your business
Updated 27 October 2026 · 6 minute read
A cashbook is the simplest way to know where your money went. You write down every rupee that comes in and every rupee that goes out, and the balance tells you how much you should have. For a shop or an online seller, ten minutes a day is enough to stop money from quietly disappearing.
What to write for every entry
- Cash In or Cash Out: did money come in (a sale, an advance, a refund from a supplier) or go out (stock, rent, salary, courier charges)?
- Date: the day the money moved, and the time if you want to find it easily later.
- Amount: the exact figure. Sums such as 450 + 120 are fine, as long as you can read them back.
- Party: who paid you or whom you paid, such as a customer, a supplier or a courier.
- Remark: a few words that will make sense in three months: the bill number, the item, the order id.
- Category: a group such as Sales, Stock, Rent, Packing or Salary, so you can total each kind of spending.
- Payment mode: Cash, UPI, Bank or Card, so you can match each balance with the real one.
A daily routine that takes ten minutes
- Write the entries as they happen, or collect the day’s bills and write them together before you close the shop.
- Give every entry a party and a category, even a short one. Entries without them are the hardest to explain later.
- At the end of the day, look at the balance for each payment mode and compare it with the cash in the drawer and the UPI or bank balance.
- If the numbers do not match, look for the missing entry today. A small gap found today takes a minute; the same gap found next month can take hours.
- Once a week, filter the week and look at the totals for each category. You will quickly see what costs the most.
Use more than one book
One book for everything gets messy. Separate books keep each balance clean and easy to check:
- Shop cash: sales and expenses paid in cash.
- UPI and bank: money that moves through your bank account.
- Personal or home: keep this apart from the business so that you always know what the business earned.
- A project or an event: a festival sale, an order for one customer, a renovation.
Keep a cashbook online, for free
- Open the free Cashbook and sign in with Google.
- Press Add new book and name it, for example “Shop cash”.
- Press Cash In or Cash Out, fill in the amount, party, remark, category and payment mode, then use Save & add new to enter the next one quickly.
- Use the filters for dates, party, category and payment mode, and the search box for a remark or an amount. The totals and the balance change with the filters.
- Open Reports to download a PDF, an Excel file or a CSV file of exactly what you are looking at.
Already have a notebook or a spreadsheet? Use Add bulk entries to paste many lines at once, or load a CSV file. Use Backup now and then to keep a copy of all your books on your own computer.
Send a clean report to your accountant
Set the duration to last month, pick the book, and download the PDF or Excel report. It lists each entry with the running balance and the totals for cash in and cash out. If your accountant only needs one category, such as Stock, filter for it first and the report follows.
Your data
The cashbook is not like the label and PDF tools, which never upload your files. Your books are saved to your own account so they open on any phone or computer, and only you can see them when you are signed in. You can delete an entry or a whole book at any time. See the privacy policy for details.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cashbook?
A cashbook is a record of all the money that comes into your business (cash in) and goes out of it (cash out), with the date, the amount and a short note for each entry. The difference between the two is your balance.
How often should I write the cashbook?
Every day, ideally as the money moves. A few minutes at the end of each day works too. The longer you wait, the more you forget, and the harder it is to match the balance with the cash you actually have.
Should UPI and bank payments go in the cashbook?
Yes, if you want to see all your money in one place. Record them with a payment mode such as UPI or Bank, or keep a separate book for the bank account. Many sellers keep one book for cash and one for UPI and bank.
Can I use the cashbook for an accountant?
Yes. Filter the entries for the month you need, then download the PDF or Excel report and send it. Reports follow the filters you set, so you can also send only one party or one category.
Is my cashbook private?
Your books are saved to your own account and only you can see them when you are signed in. You can download a backup file at any time and delete an entry or a whole book whenever you like.