Purchases day book format

The standard format

1. Date of each credit purchase
2. Supplier name and invoice number
3. Invoice total for each purchase
4. Total for the period
5. Posting: suppliers credited individually, purchases debited with the total

Filled example

Notes

• Only credit purchases of goods for resale are entered.
• Each supplier is credited individually in the purchases ledger.
• The total is debited to the purchases account.

Building and reading this format

The purchases day book is the mirror image of the sales day book. A business that buys goods on credit gathers every purchase invoice in one dated list before the figures reach the ledger. It is a book of prime entry, so it is not part of the ledger itself.

The columns follow the path of a supplier's invoice: date, supplier's name, invoice reference, then the amount payable. Take each invoice from a credit supplier and give it its own row. Record the date, the supplier, the invoice number and the net value of the goods bought for resale.

If sales tax applies, add a column for the tax and a total column on the right. For example, on 7 June a business buys goods on credit from Lim Trading for RM1,200 net. Enter the date, the name, the reference and RM1,200 in the value column.

Only goods bought for resale belong here. A delivery van or office furniture bought on credit is a non-current asset, so it goes through the general journal instead.

The date shows when the liability to the supplier arose, which sets payment timing and discount deadlines. The supplier column shows whose personal account to credit. At the end of the period, rule off and add the value column.

Post the single total to the debit side of the purchases account in the general ledger. Post each individual amount to the credit side of the supplier's account in the purchases ledger.

Check that the suppliers credited add up to the purchases account debited. A difference means an entry was missed or added up wrongly, and it would later show as a trial balance that does not balance.

Marks are mostly lost on five points. Cash purchases do not belong here, because they go through the cash book. Non-current assets bought on credit do not belong either, because they are not purchases and would distort the cost of goods available for sale.

Putting a figure in the wrong net, tax or total column loses marks. Failing to total the value column leaves nothing to post.

Giving the book debit and credit sides, as if it were a ledger account, shows a misunderstanding of a book of prime entry. It is a list with columns for date, details, folio and amount.

Use the folio column to record each ledger reference. It lets an examiner or auditor trace any figure back to its source and forward to its ledger account.

If you are unsure which purchases go in this book and which do not, we can help. One of our teachers can sort a set of past-paper transactions with you until the rule is clear. Book a trial class

Related how-to

• How to prepare a purchases day book
• How to post from books of prime entry to the ledger

These formats are standard accounting practice with our own figures. Check your board's exact requirements on the exam boards page.