daybooks

A daybook is a chronological record of events or transactions kept for reference. In general use, it can refer to a personal diary or logbook of daily activities; in business, it denotes a set of subsidiary accounting records that document daily financial transactions before they are posted to ledgers.

In accounting, daybooks are used to capture transactions in the order they occur. Typical daybooks include a sales daybook for credit sales, a purchases daybook for credit purchases, a cash book for cash receipts and payments, and petty cash book for small expenditures, along with returns inwards and returns outwards. Each entry records date, parties involved, amounts, and a brief description. The information is later posted to the general ledger and appropriate subsidiary ledgers.

Historically, daybooks arose to organize commerce and were among the first structured records kept by merchants. They served as the initial journal where daily transactions were recorded before posting to the general ledger in double-entry bookkeeping. As accounting evolved, the term daybook became a generic label for any chronological transaction record, while the precise form and naming varied by region and system.

In modern usage, daybooks are often implemented as digital journals or sub-ledgers within accounting software. The term remains common in teaching and historical contexts, emphasizing the chronological nature of recording and the separation between initial entry and posting.

Outside accounting, daybook also refers to a personal diary or logbook used to document daily activities, events, or observations, sometimes in professional fields such as field research or journalism.