What is bookkeeping?

Definition of Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping includes the recording, storing and retrieving of financial transactions for a business, nonprofit organization, individual, etc.

Examples of Bookkeeping Tasks

Typical financial transactions and tasks that are involved in bookkeeping include:

  • Billing for goods sold or services provided to clients
  • Recording receipts from customers
  • Verifying and recording invoices received from suppliers
  • Paying suppliers
  • Processing employees' pay and the related governmental reports
  • Monitoring individual accounts receivable
  • Recording depreciation and other adjusting entries
  • Providing financial reports

Today bookkeeping is done with the use of computer software. For example, QuickBooks (from Intuit) is a low-cost bookkeeping and accounting software package that is widely used by small businesses in the U.S.

Bookkeeping requires knowledge of debits and credits and a basic understanding of financial accounting, which includes the balance sheet and income statement.

Free Debits and Credits Cheat Sheet

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