All 26 Cash Book & Petty Cash questions
More in Cash Book & Petty Cash
What is the cash book? What is petty cash and the petty cash book? What is a petty cash voucher? What is the difference between cash and bank columns in the cash book? How do you balance the cash book? What is the difference between the cash book and the bank statement? What does a debit balance and a credit balance mean in the cash book? What is the difference between cash and bank in bookkeeping? What is a two-column versus three-column difference in one line? Why must cash receipts be banked promptly?
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Bookkeeping › Cash Book & Petty Cash

What is the difference between a single, two, and three-column cash book?

Beginner

Answer

A single-column cash book has one money column (cash or bank). A two-column cash book has separate cash and bank columns, handling both together. A three-column cash book adds discount columns (discounts allowed on the debit side, discounts received on the credit side) as memorandum totals posted to the discount accounts.
Three-column: Discount | Cash | Bank on each side.
Discount columns are memoranda, posted in total to the ledger.
Real-world example A business handling both cash and cheques and offering settlement discounts uses a three-column cash book.

Common follow-ups: What do the discount columns record? | Are discount columns part of double entry?

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All 26 Cash Book & Petty Cash questions