Selling on credit keeps regular customers coming back. It also creates the question every shopkeeper ends up asking at closing time: who still owes me, and how much? In Nepal and India that record is the udharo khata; elsewhere it is a credit ledger or a customer account book. Whatever you call it, the idea is the same, and it only works if it is kept the same way every day.
This guide covers what to record, where paper ledgers usually go wrong, and how to keep one that adds itself up.
What a Credit Ledger Is
A credit ledger is one page per person. On a customer's page you write what they took on credit and what they have paid since. On a supplier's page you write what you bought and what you have paid them. The number at the bottom of each page is the balance: money to receive, or money to pay.
The Four Things to Record
| What happened | What to write | Effect on the balance |
|---|---|---|
| You sold on credit | Date, customer, bill number, amount | They owe you more |
| A customer paid | Date, amount, cash / bank / wallet, which bill | They owe you less |
| You bought stock on credit | Date, supplier, their bill number, amount, what you paid now | You owe them more |
| You paid a supplier | Date, amount, how you paid | You owe them less |
Goods that come back belong here too. A return from a customer (a credit note) reduces what they owe; goods you send back to a supplier (a debit note) reduce what you owe.
Where Paper Ledgers Go Wrong
- The same person under two names. “Ram Traders” on Monday and “Ram Trader” on Friday become two pages, and neither is right.
- The bill is written but the ledger isn't. When the shop is busy, the second step is the one that gets skipped.
- Sums done by hand. One slip in a running balance carries through every line after it.
- No proof of payment. Without a receipt, “I already paid” has no answer.
A Ledger That Fills Itself In
The fix for the skipped second step is not to have one. In ProQuote's ledger, balances are worked out from documents you already make:
- A bill marked Credit in the Bill maker goes onto that customer's account
- An unpaid invoice counts as money to receive until it is marked paid
- A credit note or debit note adjusts the balance
- A purchase bill adds whatever you didn't pay to what you owe that supplier
- Receive payment takes the amount off and prints a numbered receipt showing the balance left
Because the ledger is calculated rather than typed, deleting a bill takes it out of the ledger as well, and the running balance can't drift. People are matched by name, so type a customer's name the same way each time; the Bill maker suggests names you have used before.
Collecting What You're Owed
A ledger is only useful if it leads to payment. Print a statement for a customer who asks what the total is made of, and send a polite reminder when a balance has been open too long. From a customer's page in ProQuote you can do both, including a reminder over WhatsApp with the amount filled in.
Key Takeaways
- Keep one account per customer and per supplier, with the name written the same way every time
- Record four things: credit sales, payments received, credit purchases and payments made
- Returns change the balance too, through credit notes and debit notes
- Give a receipt for every payment, showing the balance still due
- A ledger worked out from your bills can't fall out of step with them
Related reading: Invoice vs Bill vs Receipt | 80mm Receipt Billing for Shops