Books of prime entry

In this lesson

1. 0:00 Books of prime entry explained
2. 1:14 Sales day book structure
3. 2:30 Purchase day book overview
4. 3:26 Sales and purchase returns
5. 5:04 Cash book and petty cash
6. 7:28 Impress system for petty cash
7. 8:23 Journal book and adjustments
8. 9:02 Impress system practice question

About this lesson

This session covers the complete range of prime entry books—from sales and purchase day books through to petty cash and journals—with practical examples showing how daily transactions are listed, totalled, and prepared for posting to ledger accounts. Understanding books of prime entry is fundamental to Financial Accounting and forms the foundation for everything that follows in the accounting cycle. By the end, you'll be confident recognising which book each transaction belongs in and how the impress system maintains petty cash control. Books of prime entry are where organisations first record all their transactions before they're posted to ledger accounts. Rather than recording every individual transaction separately (which would be inefficient), transactions are grouped by type in specific day books, then only the daily totals are transferred to the ledger. This session walks you through each book: sales day books record credit sales invoices, purchase day books record credit purchase invoices, sales and purchase returns day books record credit notes, and cash day books analyse receipts and payments. You'll also discover how petty cash operates under the impress system, which maintains a fixed float by reimbursing exactly what's been spent at regular intervals. The practical examples show real layouts of each day book so you can see how transactions are listed with invoice numbers, amounts, and totals. You'll understand why analysis columns matter in cash books—they allow individual amounts to be posted to the correct ledger accounts rather than just posting totals. The journal book is introduced as the place for transactions that don't fit the main categories, such as corrections and period-end adjustments. This content underpins everything in Financial Accounting and is essential knowledge for passing your exams.

Duration: 11m