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Bookkeeping for a retail shop means recording sales, stock purchases, expenses and payments so you can explain what the business owns, owes and earns. For a Nigerian shop taking cash, bank transfers and POS payments, it also means checking that each payment reaches the right account and counting every sale once.
That sounds manageable until you’re closing on a busy Saturday. There’s cash in the drawer, two transfers to confirm, a supplier waiting for payment and a regular customer promising to settle on Monday. Writing down only “sales today” leaves most of that afternoon unaccounted for.
You need a routine you can keep doing when the shop is busy. Here’s what to record, how to check it, and a worked cash book example in Naira.
What records does a Nigerian retail shop need?
A retail shop needs records of sales, stock movements, running expenses, money received and paid, customer debts and supplier balances. Keep the documents behind those entries too. When a supplier queries a payment, you should be able to find both the invoice and the payment reference.
| Record | What to capture |
|---|---|
| Sales | Date, receipt number, products, quantities, selling prices, discounts and payment status |
| Stock | Opening quantities and costs, deliveries, sales, returns, losses and transfers |
| Expenses | Date, purpose, category, amount, payment account and supporting document |
| Cash and bank | Each receipt, payment and transfer, with its reference and account |
| Customer and supplier balances | Name, invoice or sale reference, amount owed, due date and payments made |
| Owner and loan transactions | Money introduced or withdrawn, loan receipts and repayments, recorded under the correct account |
If you collect VAT, record it separately from sales revenue. Include the staff member and branch where relevant. Keep product quantities in clear units: “two cartons of 24 bottles” is useful; “two lotion” leaves room for an expensive mistake.
Give each sale a reference you can find again. Our guide to professional receipts shows the details a customer receipt can carry.
How to start bookkeeping for your shop
Choose a start date, record what the business already has, and agree on where new transactions will go. You need opening balances for cash, bank accounts, stock and outstanding debts. Starting with today’s sales alone leaves yesterday’s money and goods out of the picture.
- Separate the shop’s money from household spending. Use an account dedicated to business transactions and a defined cash float for giving change.
- Count the stock you already own. Record quantities and purchase costs, using supplier documents where available.
- List customers who owe you and suppliers you still need to pay. Include the original references and any part-payments.
- Choose one main record system. Set up categories for sales, inventory, running costs, debts and owner transactions.
- Assign responsibility. Decide who records sales, who approves corrections and who checks the balances at closing.
If older records are incomplete, flag what you cannot confirm and work through it with your accountant. Don’t invent opening costs to fill empty cells. Keep the old records while you make the move; our notebook-to-app guide covers the practical handover.
What should you record every day?
Record transactions as they happen, then check the day’s records before closing. Capture sales across every payment method, goods received, expenses, refunds and debt payments. At the end of the day, compare physical cash with the cash book and investigate payments that have not reached their expected account.
Record each sale and its payment status
Keep the sale amount separate from the amount paid. If a customer takes NGN18,000 of goods and pays NGN10,000, record an NGN18,000 sale, an NGN10,000 payment and NGN8,000 still owed. Add the customer’s name and agreed payment date.
When that NGN8,000 arrives, apply it to the outstanding sale. Recording it as another sale inflates your revenue.
Receive stock at its purchase cost
Check the delivery against what you ordered. Record the quantities received, their cost and any amount still owed to the supplier. Keep separate batch costs when prices change.
In an inventory system, stock purchases go into inventory. Their cost becomes cost of goods sold when the goods sell. Entering the same purchase as a running expense as well would count it twice. How COGS works explains this with bottle-by-bottle examples, including delivery costs that belong in inventory.
Keep the small cash payments
Generator fuel, shop cleaning and a bank charge can disappear from memory by closing time. Record the purpose and amount while you still know them. Paying from the drawer reduces cash; paying from the bank reduces the bank balance. The expense needs to point to the account that paid it.
Keep refunds linked to the original sale. Record whether returned goods are saleable and going back into stock, or need a loss entry.
A daily cash book example in Naira
A cash book can track cash and bank movements in separate columns. The physical cash column should explain what’s in your drawer at closing. Keep bank and card payments separate from drawer cash, and track unpaid sales in customer balances. This example covers the cash drawer.
Imagine a sole trader starts Saturday with NGN20,000 for change. Here is the day’s cash record:
| Cash movement | Amount |
|---|---|
| Opening cash float | NGN20,000 |
| Cash sales | +NGN80,000 |
| Cash collected from an old customer debt | +NGN10,000 |
| Generator fuel paid from the drawer | −NGN5,000 |
| Cash paid against a supplier’s outstanding invoice | −NGN30,000 |
| Owner’s personal withdrawal | −NGN10,000 |
| Expected closing cash | NGN65,000 |
The shop also made NGN60,000 of sales paid by bank transfer, NGN40,000 by card and NGN20,000 on credit. Assume no VAT or refunds in this example.
Total sales are NGN200,000: NGN80,000 cash + NGN60,000 transfer + NGN40,000 card + NGN20,000 credit. The NGN10,000 collected from the old debt is money received against an earlier sale. It adds to cash, but it isn’t part of today’s sales.
Now count the drawer. If it holds NGN63,000, you have an NGN2,000 difference to investigate. Check the receipts, refunds and payments before assigning a cause. Changing the sales figure to force a match hides the problem.
For this sole trader, the personal withdrawal is drawings, not a shop expense. A limited company needs the appropriate treatment for payments to its owners, such as properly recorded salary, dividends or a director’s loan.
The NGN65,000 cash balance does not tell you the day’s profit. You still need the cost of the goods sold and the period’s running expenses. That’s the distinction behind cash flow vs profit.
How do you reconcile POS payments and bank transfers?
Reconciliation means matching your records to independent evidence, such as a bank statement or payment-provider report, and explaining differences. Match the original sales to their payments, then match those payments to bank credits. Keep fees, refunds and unsettled amounts visible so they don’t look like missing sales.
Take the NGN40,000 card sales above. Using an example fee of NGN500, the provider pays NGN39,500 into the shop’s bank account. Keep NGN40,000 in sales, record NGN500 in payment fees and match NGN39,500 to the bank credit.
The provider’s report explains the difference. For example, Paystack’s payout documentation describes payouts after transaction fees and shows how to see the transactions, fees and adjustments behind them.
If a successful payment is awaiting settlement, track the amount due from the provider until it reaches the bank. Follow up on unexplained delays using the provider’s settlement schedule. The eventual payout clears that pending balance; it does not create another sale.
For direct bank transfers, match the amount and reference to your account’s transaction record. A customer’s screenshot is not your bank record. Depositing cash takings into your business bank account is also a transfer between your own accounts, so don’t record those takings as sales again.
What should you check weekly and monthly?
Use a weekly review to chase unpaid balances and catch missing entries. Use month-end to reconcile all accounts, check stock and review profit after the necessary adjustments. Daily records make these checks possible; a monthly total without the underlying transactions gives you little to investigate.
Each week, review overdue customer debts and upcoming supplier payments. Check unsettled POS amounts, missing receipts and unexplained cash differences. Count selected fast-moving or high-value products against the stock record, then investigate any gap.
At month-end, complete your stock reconciliation and record approved losses or corrections. Match every bank and payment account to its statement. Review customer and supplier balances, then prepare the profit and loss report with adjustments such as rent paid in advance and bills incurred but not yet paid.
Also check the balance sheet: stock, cash and money owed to you on one side; supplier debts and loans among the amounts you owe. Our balance sheet guide for shop owners explains the figures with a worked Naira example. Loan proceeds are not sales, and repayment of loan principal is not a running expense. Keep interest separate.
If you run several shops, tag transactions by location so you can check profit per branch. Stock moving between your own branches needs a transfer record, rather than a customer sale.
How long should shops keep bookkeeping records in Nigeria?
Section 31 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025 requires books or records of accounts whether or not a person is liable to pay tax. They must contain enough transaction information to establish tax liability. The section requires records in English and retention for at least six years after the year of assessment to which the income relates. Read section 31 in the National Assembly’s published Act.
Keep supplier invoices, sales records, expense documents, statements and tax filings organised by period. Save readable digital copies and backups you can retrieve if a phone is lost or you change software. Keep original documents where required, and retain records longer where another obligation or an unresolved matter calls for it.
This is a practical bookkeeping guide. Have an accountant check the tax treatment and filing requirements that apply to your business; recording a cost does not, by itself, make it tax-deductible.
Should you use a notebook, Excel or bookkeeping software?
Choose a system that can keep complete records and that you will maintain every day. A notebook can handle a simple cash record. A well-built spreadsheet can track sales, expenses and balances. Software becomes useful when you need sales, stock costs and customer debts to update together.
Paper needs manual totals and a backup. Excel needs reliable formulas, protected cells and consistent entries. Software needs accurate opening balances and someone to record transactions properly. None of them can explain an unrecorded withdrawal.
Look for support for your selling units, payment methods and staff roles, plus reports you can export. Our paper, Excel and inventory software comparison walks through the options.
Common questions about retail bookkeeping
What is the difference between bookkeeping and accounting?
Bookkeeping records and organises the shop’s transactions, including sales, purchases, expenses and payments. Accounting uses those records to prepare reports, make adjustments and explain the business’s performance and tax position. Good bookkeeping gives an accountant the evidence needed to do that work.
Can I do my shop’s bookkeeping myself?
Yes. An owner can record daily transactions, file receipts and reconcile cash and bank balances. An accountant can help set up the accounts and review stock valuation, payroll, tax treatment and year-end reports. Get help when balances stop making sense or the transactions become difficult to classify.
Is a bank statement enough for bookkeeping?
No. A bank statement shows movements through that account, but it does not explain all your cash sales, stock costs, unpaid invoices or reasons for receiving money. Use it to check your records alongside sales receipts, supplier invoices, expense documents and payment-provider reports.
What should I record if a supplier does not give me a receipt?
Ask the supplier for an invoice or receipt. While you follow up, record the date, supplier’s name and contact, goods received, quantities, agreed prices and how you paid. Keep payment evidence and order messages too. An internal note helps trace the purchase, but may not satisfy every tax documentation requirement.
Keep the day’s records together in Mayloo
Mayloo connects your sales, inventory and accounts. Recorded sales update stock and feed into profit reports using batch costs. You can track expenses by category, see customer and supplier balances, and manage cash and bank accounts. Its accounting features also include financial exports for your accountant.
Start with your opening stock and balances, then record the next day’s trading. At closing, count the cash and check the payments against the records. You’ll be able to point to the receipt, expense or outstanding balance that explains each amount.