Difference Between Cash Book and Cash Account

A cash book in accounting refers to a document in which all the cash payments and receipts are noted, including deposits and withdrawals from a bank. It is the book of original entries of a business.

So, in brief, a cash book is something where all the cash transactions will be recorded. However, when it comes to the cash account is an account that is within the ledger.

You can consider a cash book as something that solves the purpose of both ledgers and a journal and cash account to be structured like a ledger.

Key Takeaways

1. A cash book is a subsidiary book that records all cash transactions chronologically.
2. A cash account is a primary account in the general ledger that records all cash transactions.
3. A cash book is a detailed record of cash transactions, while a cash account summarizes all transactions.

Cash Book vs Cash Account

The difference between a cash book and a cash account is that a cash account is also used to record all the cash transactions of a business. Still, it is a ledger account where a posting is made only when the original entry of the transaction has been made elsewhere.

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Comparison Table

Parameter of Comparison	Cash Book	Cash Account
Purpose	It serves the dual purpose of a journal and a ledger. No need for cash transactions to be recorded in the journal.	It only serves the single purpose of a ledger.
Types	There are three types of cash books: single, double and triple-column.	There is only one type of cash account
Narration	Cash books have narration which comes after the entries	Cash accounts are not followed by narration
Dependency	Cash books are not dependent on any other book because it is the book of original entries.	Cash accounts are dependent on journal day
Order of recording	The recording of transactions is done directly in a cash book	The cash transactions are first recorded in a journal book and later recorded in the cash account

What is Cash Book?

In every business, a transaction occurs in two ways – either by cash or by credit. When it comes to recording cash transactions, there are two instruments businesses use.

These are the cash book and cash account. A cash book serves as a record of all cash payments and receipts of cash.

A cash book is the first entry point for all cash transactions, including funds to and from a bank. A cash book has two sections in it – credit and debit.

There are three types of cash book formats: single, double, and triple.

Single column – A single-column cash book comprises only cash transactions done by a business. Transactions that are done on credit are not recorded while creating a single-column cash book.

Double Column – A double-column cash book records transactions done via cash and transactions done via a bank. Transactions done on credit are not included as part of a double-column cash book.

Triple Column – A triple-column cash book format is one where the receipt and payment sides of the book have three columns on each side. This format is most common to large businesses that do transactions in multiple modes, such as cash and banking, and allow and receive cash discounts.

What is Cash Account?

A cash account is a ledger account where the day-to-day transactions of a business get recorded. Similar to a ledger account, a cash account has two sides – the debit and credit sides.

On the debit side, all the cash receipts of a business are recorded, while on the credit side, all the payments made by the business are noted.

A cash account is quite beneficial in terms of tax purposes. Through cash accounting, you can be sure you are not paying tax for the money you have not yet received.

This way, you get to be sure of steady cash flow and that you have funds available for tax expenditures.

Cash accounting is especially beneficial for small businesses and individuals where cash flow could be constrained at specific times.

For big companies that deal with a lot of money, cash accounting could be a convenient way of tracking various expenses and profits without requiring bookkeeping.

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Main Differences Between Cash Book and Cash Account

1. A cash book consists of first or original entries, whereas a cash account is a ledger account, and posts here are initially entered elsewhere.
2. Cash books contain narration that comes after entry, but the narration is unnecessary in a cash account.
3. A cash book is a subsidiary book, whereas a cash account is a ledger account.
4. In terms of folios, cash books have ledger folios, while cash accounts have journal folios. Cash books have a ledger folio which stands for the page number of a ledger account from where a transaction was posted.
5. Cash accounts have a journal folio for the page number from where the transaction was posted.
6. Cash books come in three types – single column, double column, and triple column while cash accounts are in a single format.
7. A cash account, in simple terms, is part of the central ledger where you will be making entries related to the cash. However, the cash book is the original cash entry when it was received.
8. The cash account could be the principal book, a part of the ledger, but the cash book is the subsidiary book and forms the principal part of the original entries.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1045235497901957
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-6281.1990.tb00232.x
3. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-09460-8_6