Sales Day Book

Who this is for

Every invoice you raise, in number order. The day book lists each one with its net, tax and gross amounts and the date it was paid, so a missing or duplicated number shows up and the period's sales can be totalled from one place.

Freelancers and sole traders who invoice customers and want a complete sequence to work from, whether they post the figures to accounts later or hand the book to an accountant.

What this helps you track

• Every invoice issued, in date and number order
• The net, tax and gross amount on each one
• Which invoices have been paid, and when
• The period's invoiced totals and how many are still unpaid

How to use it

1. Write the business, the period and the first invoice number in the header; fill in the last number when the period closes.
2. Add a line for each invoice as you issue it, copying the number, customer and amounts exactly as they appear on the invoice.
3. Enter tax only if you charge it, using whatever rate applies to you; leave the column empty if you do not.
4. When payment arrives, write the date paid and tick the paid box; the gross column, totals and counts are worked out in the browser and the workbook.
5. At the end of the period check the numbers run in sequence with none missing, and carry the unpaid ones forward.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What is a sales day book?

A list of invoices in the order they were issued. It is the book sales are posted from, and it proves the sequence is complete, which matters when someone asks why invoice number 47 is missing.

How is it different from an invoice tracker?

An invoice tracker is organised around chasing money. The day book is the complete record of what was invoiced, paid or not, in number order. Use the overdue invoice chasing log for the chasing.

I do not charge tax. Can I leave that column out?

Leave it empty. Gross then equals net, and the totals still work. Whether you should be charging tax depends on the rules where you are, so check with your tax authority if you are unsure.

What about credit notes?

Record a credit note on its own line with the amounts as minus figures, and note the invoice it relates to in the description, so the totals reflect what was actually owed.