Single Entry vs. Double Entry Bookkeeping: Which is Best for Your Clients in 2023?

Difference between single-entry and double-entry bookkeeping

Let’s start with personal accounts. Person posting is cash accounting. It just checks the inflow or outflow of money from bank accounts etc. This means that when you open a bank account online, you will see the money going out, you will pay some bills, and the money coming in will generate income. Personal accounting. It’s super easy. In fact, it’s too easy for a venture capitalist-backed start-up or an e-commerce company just starting out and looking to grow big. No matter what size you run a business, you don’t have to do separate accounting. That’s not a good way.

This is intended for individual advisors who really just want to track their cash flow. It’s easier to understand why with an example. Let’s say in February. He hired a web designer to create a really cool new website for his business. They do all the work in February. Billed in March. And pay in April. Construction was actually completed in February. Normally, this expense is double-entered in his February posting to another accounting system.

But with the single-entry approach, it would only be confirmed once, and we would see the money flow out in April. The actual costs incurred are completely misrepresented. It also makes running a business very difficult because you can only record expenses when they are incurred and earn revenue only when they are incurred. This makes it very difficult, both for investors and for you, to do an analysis and find out what’s going on in the company.

How does the single-entry system work?

Simple bookkeeping involves keeping a cash book to record income and expenses. Start with your existing cash balance over a period of time, add up the income you receive, and subtract your expenses. After considering all these transactions, calculate the cash balance at the end of the specified period.

A typical cash book contains the following information:

Date:

The date the transaction was made

Explanation:

A quick note about the transaction

Transaction amount:

Values ​​can be either incoming (debit) or outgoing (credit).

Balance:

Total cash on hand

In the example below, let’s assume you are a business owner and have tracked debits and credits for all transactions that take place during the week.

1. You have a cash balance of $5,000 at the beginning of the first week of June. So this will be the first entry.
2. On the second day of the week, you pay $1000 in rent. Since this is an expense, please deduct this amount from your cash balance. That leaves us with $4000.
3. The customer pays her $500 bill, which is the income. Therefore, this amount will be debited from your account, and your balance will increase to $4,500.
4. You buy office furniture for $1500. Therefore, deduct this amount from your existing balance.
5. $3,000 cash left over for the weekend.

What is Double Entry Bookkeeping?

Compare this to double-entry bookkeeping. Double booking is simply the act of making a reservation under one account and a corresponding reservation under another account. And that is the basis of GAAP and accrual accounting. The whole work is built on it. Doing so will give you a more accurate view of your income and expenses in the period in which they occur so you need to run your business. So it’s definitely true; this will increase your income and cash. Post this transaction in two places. This is a very simple example of double-entry bookkeeping.

So it’s a sales example.

Let’s look at a more complicated example. Imagine you are billing your customers. You record revenue when you close the customer and issue an invoice. Then claim your accounts receivable to show that you owe money for the work you just did. Both went up.

Another example:

They do something in terms of responsibility. You closed a venture bond deal. They are going to withdraw cash because the price will go up. Then put that loan account on your balance sheet. This is double-entry Bookkeeping Services Dubai. The same is true when collecting money. We will cover this amount in cash and in preferred stock to meet our capital account. This is a double entry. And more accurately reflect financial data.

How does the double-entry system work?

A key feature of this system is that debits and credits must always match for error-free transactions. Double-entry bookkeeping is based on basic accounting equations such as:

Financial assets:

Money to own a company.

Liabilities:

Everything the company owes

Net worth:

Investment in the owner’s company

Income:

Money, a company, makes from selling its products.

Cost:

Money a company spends on running its business.

Always remember that both sides of the equation must be balanced. This is how we arrived at the term “book accounting.” A small example will help you understand this equation.

Same example as above, but this time using double-entry bookkeeping. Suppose you use double-entry bookkeeping to record the debits and credits of the transactions that take place during the course of the week.

In what document will the entry be recorded?

While single-entry bookkeeping records transaction income and expenses on the cash register, double-entry bookkeeping starts with a journal, followed by a general ledger, balances, and finally, financial statements.

Diary:

A ledger that records transactions in chronological order. No need to balance.

Ledger:

This is the final accounting book that splits transactions and records them in separate accounts. There must be a balance.

Trial credit:

This is an accounting worksheet that reflects credit and debit balances for all accounts. One of the key features of the trial balance is that it allows you to maintain the accuracy of your trading calculations.

Financial report:

This is a collection of overview reports that reflect an organization’s financial performance, standing, and cash flow.

Why is double-entry bookkeeping better than single-entry bookkeeping?

Double-entry systems have several advantages over single-entry systems.

Recording method:

Separate accounting provides a one-sided overview of the transactions recorded at the cash register. With dual entry, changes made by a transaction are reflected in at least two accounts. Dual entry systems are preferred by investors, banks, and buyers as they provide a more complete picture of an organization’s financial situation.

Error detection:

For double bookings, the debit and credit must always be the same. Otherwise, an error will occur. This makes it easier to spot errors and prevents them from being carried over to other journals and financial reports. A single entry has no way of correcting or detecting errors.

Company size:

Single-entry systems are only suitable for small businesses, while double-entry systems can be used by businesses of all sizes, including large corporations. Annual financial preparation:

Information collected in a single-entry system is not sufficient for financial reporting and income statement preparation. Large companies rely on these reports to track their performance and therefore need the additional information captured by double-entry bookkeeping.

Run your business with ease.

Bookkeeping is an important task for maintaining accurate financial records. However, many small businesses have not implemented this effectively. Accounting helps you create budgets, ensure tax compliance, evaluate company performance, and make decisions. You’ve probably thought about setting up all these operations for your business, too.

Zoho Books follows double-entry bookkeeping as it is suitable for businesses of all sizes. The dual-entry method gives you a complete picture of your finances, protects your business from manual data entry errors, and automatically generates financial reports for managers and accountants to make decisions. Check out our cloud-based double-entry bookkeeping software and see how it can help your business.