Document and receipt: why is everything recorded?
The twelfth Basics lesson: at Qodir's shop a cash shortage turned up at the end of the day. What a document and a receipt are, why they are needed and how to find a missing entry, with a simple calculation.
The end of the day at Qodir's neighbourhood shop. He counted the till: 134,000 soums. He looked in the notebook: today's sales should be 154,000 soums. 20,000 soums are missing. Who took the money? Did the books go wrong? The answer to this question is given by the document and the receipt.
What are a document and a receipt?
A document is a paper (or an electronic record) written about an event that took place and serving as proof: who gave what to whom and for how much.
A receipt is one of the simplest documents: it shows what the customer took and how much they paid. The receipt issued by a shop and the invoice from the person who brought the goods are documents too. Each of them is the trace of one event.
Why is everything recorded?
Human memory goes wrong, a document does not. A record helps with three things:
- Finding the trail of money. How much came in, how much went out.
- Finding an error. In Qodir's case the record for a single day reveals the cause.
- Trust. If a partner, a bank or a customer asks "where does this figure come from?", there is something to show.
Qodir's 20,000 soums
Today's sales (the figures are hypothetical):
| Goods | Qty | Price (soums) | Amount (soums) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread | 3 | 6,000 | 18,000 |
| Milk | 5 | 12,000 | 60,000 |
| Sugar | 2 | 14,000 | 28,000 |
| Soap | 4 | 5,000 | 20,000 |
| Tea | 1 | 28,000 | 28,000 |
| Total | 154,000 |
Qodir checked the receipts one by one: there is a receipt for the bread (18,000), for the milk (60,000), for the sugar (28,000), for the tea (28,000). For the soap there is no receipt. The amount for 4 bars of soap is 4 × 5,000 = 20,000 soums, exactly the missing money. When the shop assistant was asked, it turned out that he had handed the soap to a neighbour who "will pay tomorrow", and no receipt had been issued. If such a sale is left without a document, the goods go out and the money does not reach the till.
By comparing the receipts with the till, Qodir found the answer in a minute. In a shop without receipts this search could have dragged on for days.
What happens to an entry without a document?
A supplier brought Qodir 10 crates of milk, each crate 60,000 soums, in total 10 × 60,000 = 600,000 soums. Qodir had paid a week earlier but did not take any paper. At the end of the week the supplier says: "You haven't paid me yet." Qodir has no reliable record in hand: who is right, both can prove it only with words.
If there is a document, the dispute ends in a minute: the date, the amount and the signature are visible. That is why an experienced entrepreneur does not say "I will write it down later" but writes it down the moment the event happens.
Ordinary documents in everyday life
You also come across documents every day:
| Event | What trace remains |
|---|---|
| You bought bread at a shop | Till receipt |
| Goods were delivered | The invoice handed over with the goods |
| Wages were paid | A signature on the list or a bank entry |
| You transferred money | The payment confirmation on your phone |
As you can see, a document is not only paper: a confirmation on a phone is a trace too. What matters is that the event leaves a trace and it can be found later.
A useful habit
- Take and give a receipt or document for every sale and purchase.
- At the end of the day, compare the total of the receipts with the money in the till.
- Do not lose documents, keep them in one place.
In the next lesson
In the thirteenth lesson we will see what a bank and a bank account are, and why money sometimes moves not on paper but as an entry in the bank.
Test yourself
5 questions on this topic: pick an option or reveal the answer.
Zomin Tuz LLC withheld an amount from an employee's wages in favour of another organisation under a court enforcement document. In which account under NAS No. 21 is this liability kept?
"Mehr Tex" LLC has been registered. Under the constituent documents, charter capital is 80,000,000 soums, and the founders' contributions are in the form of units (interests). What is the entry declaring the capital?
In accordance with its constitutive documents and the procedure set by legislation, Chirchiq Plastmassa LLC directed part of the current year's retained earnings to reserve capital. Which journal entry is made?
"Oqsaroy mebel" LLC decided to increase its charter capital. The amendments to the founding documents have not yet been state-registered, but a participant paid in an additional contribution in cash to the settlement account. Under NAS No. 21, what journal entry is made?
When counting packaging material received into the warehouse, "Payariq meva" LLC found that less had arrived than stated in the document and lodged a claim against the supplier for the difference. Which journal entry is made under NAS No. 21?
Answered: 0 / 50 of 5 correct
All tests →See also
Sources
- General economic concept · examples and calculations compiled by the author, names and figures hypothetical