How to organise the debt book in your shop

The credit book is the most important book in your shop: it holds money people owe you. Yet it is usually the messiest one. This guide helps you put it in order, whether you stay on paper or move to an app.

1. One account per customer, not one page per day

The biggest mistake is writing debts by day. After a month you can’t tell what Abu Mohammad owes without flipping every page. The right way: every customer has an account, and every entry goes into it. That way the balance is always in front of you.

2. Record the entry on the spot

“I’ll write it down later” is the first step to an argument. Record the debt while the customer is standing there, and let them see the number. In an app this takes seconds: pick the customer, “I gave”, and the amount.

3. Write the right things with every entry

• The date, always.
• The amount and the currency: “100” alone isn’t enough if you deal in dollars and Syrian pounds.
• A short note: goods, payment, transfer.
• A due date if there is one.

4. Each currency on its own line

If a customer owes you dollars and pounds, don’t add them into one number. The exchange rate changes, and tomorrow the combined number is wrong. Keep a balance for each currency. (There is a full article on this.)

5. Due dates and reminders

A debt without a date gets late. Agree on a day with the customer and write it down. In haeifin, the due-dates page puts late ones first and reminds you at the time you choose.

6. A statement every month

Send each customer their statement at the end of the month: every entry with its date and the balance after it. A customer who sees the statement rarely says “but I paid you”. In the app the statement is a PDF in one tap, sent on WhatsApp.

7. A backup

A lost paper book has no copy. The app gives you a password-protected backup file that you keep on Drive or in your email.