A cash book (or cash journal) is an official document in which you record all cash movements. This applies to both self-employed individuals and companies.
💡 As soon as you work with cash, you must keep a cash book. Healthcare professionals are particularly concerned, as they provide services to individuals and therefore receive cash payments more regularly.
Even if you make a single cash payment, or if you receive a single cash payment from a patient, you are required to keep a cash book.
A financial-type journal
Accounting law requires you to keep a financial journal for each payment method. This journal simply lists incoming and outgoing payments in chronological order.
The bank journal 💳
The most common financial journal is the bank journal: it lists your bank transactions in chronological order with information such as the date, amount or communication reference.
This is the simplest journal to follow, as the information is already stored in a database (the bank's). If you are self-employed, BILLY retrieves your bank transactions through an automatic synchronisation with your bank.
The cash journal 💸
For cash payments, the process is the same as for the bank journal. You must record all cash payments.
In what format should the cash book be kept? Historically, the cash book was kept in a bound paper notebook where each page was numbered. This allows an inspector to verify that the information has not been altered. Today, you can opt for a digital tool. However, the software must prevent modifications and must retain the entry date of each piece of information added. BILLY provides a legally compliant cash book so you can manage this with complete peace of mind 🏖️
👉🏻 Find out how to manage your cash book in BILLY
⛔ It is not permitted to manage your cash book in Excel. Indeed, you cannot guarantee the timestamp of each entry in the book, nor prevent modifications.
Contents of the cash book
The cash book must be completed in chronological order. For each payment, you indicate:
The date of the incoming or outgoing payment
The positive or negative amount
The description or communication reference
The cash balance: with a digital tool, this balance is calculated automatically
Situation 1: outgoing to the bank account
When you withdraw cash from the cash register to deposit it at the bank, you must record a cash outflow. The movement will be of the type "Bank deposit".
Situation 2: outgoing to private use
If you withdraw cash from the cash register for personal use, you must also record a cash outflow. The movement will be of the type "Private withdrawal".
💡 It is important to clearly distinguish between professional and personal cash. As soon as you take an amount in cash from the register for personal use, you must record a private withdrawal.
Balance inventory 🔢
On the last day of the financial year, you are required to carry out a verification of your financial journal balance.
For the bank account, the bank does this for you. There is no error since the calculation is done automatically. For the cash book, you must check yourself whether the accounts match reality (this is called the cash reconciliation).
💡 The cash balance in the accounts is often incorrect. It only takes forgetting to record a bank deposit, for example. Be sure to track every cash payment — you will save time during the inventory.
Difference from the receipts journal
The receipts journal and the cash book are not of the same type. The cash book records cash payments. Each cash payment is carefully recorded in this journal.
The receipts journal is a journal recording income without an invoice (known as receipts). These receipts generally come from a cash or bank payment. There is therefore a link between the cash book and the receipts journal.
So what is the link between the cash book and the receipts journal? A cash payment can generate a receipt in the receipts journal. When recording a cash payment, you can specify the type of movement in BILLY. If it is of the type "Income", we automatically generate the corresponding receipt in the receipts journal. All of this is automatic thanks to BILLY — you have nothing to do and you save time ⏱️ No more Excel files or loose sheets on your desk. Enter your income directly in the app!
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