GA
Bookkeeping for small shops: the five records that matter
You do not need to be an accountant to keep good books. Keep these five records well and you will always know if your shop is really making money.
Ask most shop owners how business is going and they will say "it's moving" or "things are hard". Ask them how much profit they made last month and many cannot say. Usually, nobody showed them which records actually matter.
Good bookkeeping for a small shop is not complicated. You do not need to learn accounting words or fill in big ledgers. You need five records, kept every day or every week, and kept honestly. With these five, you can work out your profit, spot problems early, and show a bank or partner exactly how the business is doing.
1. Sales: everything that goes out
Your sales record is the foundation. Every sale, big or small, should be written down with:
- The date.
- What was sold and how many.
- The amount.
- How the customer paid: cash, Mobile Money, card or credit.
The payment method matters more than people think. If you only write "GH₵ 2,000 sales today", you cannot check it against the cash in the drawer and the money in your Mobile Money wallet. If you write GH₵ 1,200 cash, GH₵ 650 Mobile Money and GH₵ 150 on credit, you can check each one.
Tip: record sales as they happen, not from memory at closing time. The small sales are the ones that get forgotten, and in a provisions shop or a chop bar, the small sales are most of the business.
2. Purchases and expenses: everything you pay
Next, record every cedi that leaves the business. It helps to keep two kinds apart:
- Purchases: goods you buy to resell, such as cartons of milk, bags of rice, phone cases or bales of fabric.
- Expenses: the costs of running the shop, such as rent, electricity, transport, airtime and data, wages, repairs and market tolls.
Keep receipts where you can. Where there is no receipt, such as a trotro fare or a porter's fee, write it down the same day with a short note. Small expenses add up quickly. GH₵ 15 a day on transport is GH₵ 450 in a 30-day month.
There is also a third kind of spending to note separately: big items that last for years, like a fridge, a freezer, a sewing machine or a generator. These are assets, not everyday expenses, and they are usually spread over their useful life rather than counted all in one month.
3. Stock: what you have on the shelf
Stock is money sitting on your shelves. If you do not track it, you cannot tell the difference between a slow month and a month where goods went missing.
Keep a simple record of each item: how many came in (from purchases), how many went out (from sales), and how many are left. Then count the real stock regularly and compare. If the record says 24 tins of tomato paste and the shelf has 19, something is wrong: a sale was not recorded, an item was damaged, or something walked out.
You do not need to count everything every day. A short weekly count of your top items catches most problems. Our guide to a stock count routine that takes 30 minutes a week shows you how.
4. Who owes you, and who you owe
Credit is part of life for most small shops. Regular customers buy now and pay at month end, and suppliers give you goods and collect later. Both need a clear record.
- Money owed to you (debtors): the customer's name, phone number, what they bought, the amount, the date, and every payment they make.
- Money you owe (creditors): the supplier's name, the amount, when it is due, and every payment you make.
Without this record, small debts are forgotten and big ones cause arguments. With it, you can remind customers politely with exact figures, and you never miss a supplier payment that could cost you your credit. Our guide on selling on credit without losing your money goes deeper.
Good to know: credit sales count as sales on the day you make them, even though the cash has not arrived. That is why a shop can be profitable on paper and still short of cash. Watch both numbers.
5. Cash, bank and Mobile Money balances
The last record is the simplest and the one most often skipped: how much money the business actually has. At the end of each day or week, write down the cash in the drawer, the balance in your Mobile Money wallet and the bank balance.
Compare these with what your sales and expenses say you should have. If they do not match, find out why while it is fresh. And if you take money out for yourself or your family, record it as money taken out by the owner, not as a business expense. Mixing the two is the fastest way to lose sight of whether the shop is really making money. See keep business money and personal money apart for a simple way to do it.
Putting the five records together
Once you have these records, working out your profit for the month is straightforward. Here is an example for a small provisions shop:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sales for the month | GH₵ 18,500 |
| Less: cost of the goods that were sold | GH₵ 13,200 |
| Gross profit | GH₵ 5,300 |
| Rent | GH₵ 800 |
| Assistant's wages | GH₵ 1,200 |
| Transport | GH₵ 450 |
| Electricity | GH₵ 300 |
| Airtime and data | GH₵ 150 |
| Total expenses | GH₵ 2,900 |
| Net profit | GH₵ 2,400 |
Notice that the GH₵ 18,500 in sales looked impressive, but the owner only made GH₵ 2,400 after paying for the goods and running the shop. If the owner took out GH₵ 3,000 for personal use that month, the business actually shrank by GH₵ 600, even though it was "profitable". That is exactly the kind of insight the five records give you.
In Snnel, sales, purchases, expenses, stock and customer credit are recorded as you work, and the profit and loss report is built for you and can be downloaded as PDF or Excel. Whatever tool you use, the habit is what counts. For help reading the report, see read your profit and loss report in five minutes.
How long to keep your records
Keep your records safe and keep them for several years, not just the current month. The tax authorities, banks and investors may all ask to see past figures. The exact period required can change, so confirm the current rules with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) or an accountant. Keep paper receipts in a dry folder by month, and keep a copy of digital records somewhere other than one phone.
Key takeaways
- Five records cover almost everything: sales, purchases and expenses, stock, debts both ways, and money balances.
- Record every sale with its payment method, as it happens.
- Keep purchases, everyday expenses and long-lasting assets apart.
- Credit sales are sales, but they are not cash. Track debtors and creditors closely.
- Record money you take out for yourself separately, so you can see the true health of the business.
Start with one record this week, then add the next. Within a month, you will know your numbers better than most of your competitors.