bookkeeping

Thân thiện

The accountant performs bookkeeping at her tidy desk.

Definition

Noun: The systematic recording, organizing, and maintaining of financial transactions for a business or organization. It is the foundational process of accounting, involving the day-to-day task of logging all income and expenditures.

Usage

Bookkeeping is an essential administrative function. It is typically performed by a bookkeeper and involves using ledgers, journals, or specialized software. The term is used as a non-count noun to describe the overall activity or profession.

Examples

• Accurate bookkeeping is crucial for understanding a company's financial health.
• She handles all the bookkeeping for the small family business.
• Modern bookkeeping often relies on digital software instead of paper ledgers.

Advanced Usage

• Double-entry bookkeeping: The standard system where every transaction is entered twice, as both a debit and a credit in different accounts, to maintain the accounting equation (Assets = Liabilities + Equity).
  • The company adopted double-entry bookkeeping for greater accuracy.
• Single-entry bookkeeping: A simpler system similar to maintaining a check register, recording only one entry per transaction. It is often used by very small businesses or for personal finances.
  • For his freelance work, he uses a basic single-entry bookkeeping method.

Variants and Related Words

• Bookkeeper (n): A person whose job is to keep records of financial transactions.
  • The bookkeeper reconciles the bank statements every month.
• Bookkeep (v, rare): To perform the task of bookkeeping. (Note: This verb form is less common; "do the bookkeeping" or "keep the books" are more frequent.)
  • He bookkeeps for several local shops.

Synonyms

• Record-keeping: The general act of maintaining records, which can include non-financial information.
• Accounting: A broader field that includes bookkeeping but also involves interpreting, classifying, analyzing, and reporting financial data.

Related Phrases

• To keep the books: An idiomatic phrase meaning to perform bookkeeping duties.
  • Who keeps the books for your organization?
• Books of account: The formal ledgers and journals where financial transactions are recorded.
  • The auditor examined the books of account for the fiscal year.

Học thuật

Noun

1. the activity of recording business transactions

Từ đồng nghĩa

• clerking