Meaning & use
account books
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Meanings
nounusually pluralbusiness
Books or ledgers in which a business or person records money received, spent and owed.
Grammar: Usually plural: the account books were checked; one such record is an account book.
Patterns
- keep the account books
- check the account books
The shop owner kept the account books in a drawer beneath the till.
Inspectors asked to see the account books for the past three years.
She balances the account books every Friday afternoon.
nounusually pluralfigurative
The financial records of an organization, in paper or electronic form, used to show its accounts.
Grammar: Used figuratively for any set of financial records: open the account books.
Patterns
- open the account books
- audit the account books
The treasurer opened the account books to show where the donations had gone.
The new owner found errors in the account books.
Word forms
| singular | account book |
|---|
Common combinations
- keep the account books
- He keeps the account books for the family business.
- balance the account books
- It took all evening to balance the account books.
- audit the account books
- Auditors will audit the account books next month.
- falsify the account books
- The clerk was fired for falsifying the account books.
- inspect the account books
- The tax office wants to inspect the account books.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ledgers
- Ledgers are the main books for recording accounts, while account books is a broader and more everyday phrase.
- books
- Books is short and informal, often in cook the books, while account books is more explicit.
- financial records
- Financial records covers any form including digital files, while account books suggests bound ledgers.
- accounts
- Accounts can mean the statements themselves, while account books refers to the volumes where they are recorded.
Word family
- account noun
- a record of money matters
- accountant noun
- a person who keeps or checks financial records
- accounting noun
- the work of recording and checking finances
- bookkeeper noun
- a person who records daily financial transactions
Commonly confused: account books or bank accounts?
account books vs bank accounts
Bank accounts hold money at a bank, while account books record where money went.
Practice
The inspector asked to see the company's account ___.
Choose one answer.
Account books is the fixed phrase for financial records. Account notes is not a standard phrase, so it would sound wrong here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “account books”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.