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Expenses › Expense book format
Expense book format: what to write for every expense
An expense book is the list of what the business spends to keep running, other than goods bought for sale. Written as it happens, it tells you your real monthly costs and gives your accountant everything for the profit and loss account.
The columns
- Date of the expense (the bill date, or the day you paid if there is no bill).
- Expense type: rent, electricity, salary and wages, transport, phone and internet, repairs, office expenses, fuel, bank charges, professional fees, advertising, or your own.
- Paid to and the bill number, if there is one.
- How it was paid: cash, UPI, bank transfer, cheque, or not paid yet.
- Amount, and the GST in it if you will claim it back.
Goods you buy to sell, and raw material, go in the purchase register, not here. Machinery, furniture and computers are assets; ask your accountant how to show them.
A month in the book
A small hardware shop in Punjab, October 2026:
| Date | Expense type | Paid to | Paid by | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Oct 2026 | Rent | Mr Arora (landlord) | Bank transfer | 18,000.00 |
| 05 Oct 2026 | Salary and wages | Two shop helpers | UPI | 24,000.00 |
| 09 Oct 2026 | Electricity | PSPCL | UPI | 3,420.00 |
| 14 Oct 2026 | Transport and freight | Local tempo | Cash | 1,200.00 |
| 22 Oct 2026 | Phone and internet | Airtel | Not paid yet | 999.00 |
| 28 Oct 2026 | Repairs and maintenance | Shutter repair | Cash | 2,500.00 |
| October total | 50,119.00 | |||
The phone bill is not paid yet, but it is still an October expense. It shows in "Dues" as money owed to Airtel until it is paid.
The monthly summary
Once a few months are in, the expense book turns the list into a table: each type in a row, each month in a column. Rent and salaries are flat; electricity climbs in summer; repairs come in bursts. This is the table your accountant needs for the profit and loss account, and the one you need to see where costs are growing.
Papers to keep
- The bill or receipt for every expense, paper or PDF. Without a bill, write a payment voucher signed by the person paid (voucher.niveshsahayak.in prints one).
- Salary records: a salary register or slips (salary-slip.niveshsahayak.in), with what each person was paid and how.
- Rent agreement and rent receipts.
- Keep them for at least as long as your accountant asks. For GST, books and records are kept for 72 months from the due date of the annual return of that year.