Page 10 - Book-keeping for Secondary Schools Student’s Book Form One

Book-Keeping for Secondary Schools

businesses. Take an example of Mrs Chaza material and service as well as money
who starts a food vending business by received from selling goods to customers
the name of Swahili-bites. This business is what is known as “Book-keeping”.
operates near Jenga-afya Secondary School
in Maruku. The business will need equipment Origin of Book-keeping
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like cookers, pans and serving utensils. It The origin of Book-keeping can be traced
will also need some furniture like benches, back to the ancient civilisations like Sumeria

tables and cupboards. It will buy raw food and Egypt. These societies developed
and cook it for sale. To ensure that the food systems to record and track transactions and
business runs successfully, Mrs Chaza might goods exchanged. Overtime, Book-keeping
be required to do the following: principles advanced to various techniques
(i) Hire some cooks and service through contributions from Greeks and
attendants, Romans entrepreneurs. In the medieval
(ii) Supervise cooking activities, period, Luca Pacioli in 1494 played a
(iii) Sell food, significant role in promoting double entry

(iv) Receive cash from sales made, and Book-keeping system. This introduction
(v) Record credit sales (in case some was a significant development that
food is sold on credit). revolutionised the field of Book-keeping.
Since then, Book-keeping has continued
All these activities will involve movement to evolve, adapting to changing economic
of money. Eventually, Mrs Chaza would systems and technological advancements.
need to evaluate whether the business As we speak, Book-keeping remains a
is achieving its objectives. One of the vital part of accounting and financial
likely objectives is to make a profit from management, ensuring maintenance of

such operations. This means that Mrs records, facilitating financial reporting,
Chaza will need to calculate whether her analysis, and maintaining transparency and
business has generated a profit or not. To accountability in financial affairs.
be able to determine the profit or a loss,
some calculations will have to be done by Meaning of Book-keeping
comparing the sales (revenue) made from Book-keeping is an important part of the
selling food against the costs of materials accounting process. It plays an important
role in the early stages in the accounting
and services used. To do this, there would process. As explained earlier, Book-
be a need to keep records of money paid keeping can be defined as the art of
on each material and services, as well recording business financial transactions
as money received from selling food to in the books of accounts in an orderly
customers. Simply put, the process of manner. In principle, every transaction
keeping records of money spent on each has to be recorded in a systematic

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Student’s Book Form One

Book Keeping Form 1 New 2024 FINAL.indd 2 18/10/2024 10:14