SINGLE ENTRY BOOKKEEPING
1. To this point all of the discussions in this work have related to the double entry system of bookkeeping, and all demonstrations have been carried out according to that system. The reason for this is that double entry is the best and the only satisfactory method of bookkeeping; it is the only method that fulfils the important function of bookkeeping by furnishing a true record of the results of all business transactions.
[3]. Copyright, 1909, by American School of Correspondence.
It might appear that instruction in keeping books by the single entry method has no place in a modern treatise on bookkeeping; and if our purpose were to teach single entry as a method to be used, this would be true.
Single entry bookkeeping is not recommended as a method to be used in any business.
The only reason for introducing single entry is to show the student how to change a set of books from the antiquated single entry to a modern double entry system. Though inadequate, single entry is still used to some extent. It is more commonly found in small retail establishments, but occasionally encountered in the offices of corporations and manufacturing enterprises. The bookkeeper who is called upon to fill a position where this method is used must know how to keep books by single entry, that he may more clearly demonstrate the advantages of the double entry method.
When the advantages of double entry are demonstrated, few employers will object to a change from single entry. In most offices where single entry is still used, the reasons which have prevented a change may be summed up as ignorance of the double entry method, or a fear that double entry will increase the work without a corresponding benefit. This latter idea is a misconception inherited from the days of the old time bookkeeper, who considered it necessary to laboriously journalize every transaction. While it may have possessed some merit at that time, it is no longer true. Modern ideas, improved forms of account books, labor saving devices, and short cuts without number have reduced the labor of bookkeeping to a minimum, and if any attempt at a proof of accuracy is made, double entry actually requires less labor than single entry.
2. Distinctive Features of Single Entry. The distinctive feature of single entry is that only personal accounts are kept. When goods are sold or purchased, records are made of the transactions as they affect the persons to whom sold or from whom purchased. The records do not show the increase or decrease of any specific form of assets, like merchandise, for no property accounts are kept. An account is usually kept with cash, but this approaches double entry, for when a person pays money to the business, cash is debited and the person credited; and when money is paid out, cash is credited and the person debited.
Sometimes, in a set of books otherwise kept by single entry, such accounts as merchandise, expense, and real estate are found, but when such accounts are introduced the books begin to take on double entry features.
3. Books Used. The principal books of a single entry set usually consist of day book or journal, cash book, and ledger. Both the day book and cash book are books of original entry, from which transactions are posted direct to the ledger. Auxiliary books used are order book, bill book, and check book.