The 

double column cash book (also known as two column cash book) has two money columns
on both debit and credit sides – one to record cash transactions and one to record bank
transactions. In other words, we can say that if we add a bank column to both sides of a single
column cash book, it would become a double column cash book. The cash column is used to
record all cash transactions and works as a cash account whereas bank column is used to record
all receipts and payments made by checks and works as a bank account. Both the columns are
totaled and balanced like a traditional T-account at the end of an appropriate period which is
usually one month.

Since a double column cash book provides cash as well as bank balance at the end of a period,
some organizations prefer to maintain a double column cash book rather than maintaining two
separate ledger accounts for recording cash and bank transactions.

Format

The format/specimen of a double column cash book is given below:

Example 1:

Enter the following transactions in a double column cash book/two column cash book.

2005   $
March 1 Cash in hand 80,000
March 1 Bank Balance 120,000
March 3 Received a cheque from Osman 24,000
March 4 Deposited Osman's cheque with bank --
March 8 Withdrawn from bank for business use 20,000
March 10 Goods sold for cash 30,000
March 15 Goods bought for cash 80,000
March 18 Goods sold for cash 60,000
March 20 Paid Rahim by cheque 26,000
March 30 Deposited into bank 16,000
March 31 Paid salary in cash 10,000
March 31 Paid rent by cheque 6,000

Solution:

Double Column Cash Book

Date Particulars V/N L/F Cash $ Bank $ Date Particulars V/N L/F Cash $ Bank $

2005           2005          

Mar. 1 Balance b/d     80,000 120,000 Mar. Bank A/c   C 24,000  

4 (Being
cheque
deposited)
3 Osman A/c     24,000   8 Cash A/c   C   20,000
(Being (Being cash
cheque withdrawn
received) from bank)
4 Cash A/c   C   24,000 15 Purchase     80,000  
(Cheque A/c
deposited (Being
with bank) goods
bought)
8 Bank A/c   C 20,000   18 Cash A/c   C 16,000  
(Being cash
drawn from
bank)
 10 Sales A/c      30,000   20 Rahim A/c       26,000
(Being (Cheque
goods sold issued)
'for cash)

 18 Sales A/c      60,000   31 Salary A/c     10,000  

(Being (Being
goods sold salary paid)
for cash)

30 Cash A/c   C   16,000 31 Rent A/c       6,000

(Being cash (Being rent
deposited) paid by
cheque)

             31 Balances     84,000 108,000

c/d
               
        214,000 160,000         214,000 160,000

               
April. Balance b/d     84,000 108,000            
1

The triple column cash book (also referred to as three column cash book) is the most exhaustive
form of cash book which has three money columns on both receipt (Dr) and payment (Cr) sides to
record transactions involving cash, bank and discounts. A triple column cash book is usually
maintained by large firms which make and receive payments in cash as well as by bank and which
frequently receive and allow cash discounts.

The procedure of recording transactions in a triple/three column cash book is similar to that of
a double column cash book. The only difference between two types of cash book is that a double
column cash book has two money columns (i.e., cash and bank) whereas a triple column cash book
has three money columns (i.e., cash, bank and discount).

The cash and bank columns of triple column cash book are used as accounts and are periodically
totaled and balanced just like in case of a double column cash book. The discount column is only
totaled. It is not balanced because it does not work as an account.

In general ledger, two separate accounts are maintained for discount allowed and discount received.
The total of discount column on debit side of cash book represents the total cash discount allowed to
customers during the period and is posted to the discount allowed account maintained in the ledger.
The total of discount column on credit side represents the total cash discount received from suppliers
during the period and is posted to the discount received account maintained in the ledger.

Discount allowed is an expense and discount received is an income of the business.

Format

The format of a triple/three column cash book is given below:

The triple column cash book has 7 columns on both debit and credit sides. The purpose of each
column is briefly explained below:

1. Date: The date column is used to enter the transaction date.

2. Description: The description column is used to write the name of the account to be debited
or credited in the ledger as a result of cash or bank transaction.
3. Voucher number (VN): A voucher is a document in support of a transaction. The serial
number of the voucher is entered in this column.
4. Posting reference (PR): Each account in the ledger is assigned a unique numbered. The
number each ledger account that is written in description column is entered in PR column.
5. Discount: The amount of discount allowed is recorded on debit side and the amount of
discount received is recorded on credit side in discount column. The totals of debit column
and credit column are posted to discount allowed account and discount received account
respectively.
6. Cash: The amount of cash received (net of any discount allowed) is entered on the debit side
and the amount of cash paid (net of any discount received) is entered on the credit side in
cash column. This column is totaled and balanced like a ledger account.
7. Bank: The amount of all receipts and payments made by the bank account are entered in
bank column of the cash book. This column is also totaled and balanced like a ledger
account.

Posting a three column cash book to ledger accounts

As explained earlier in this article, only cash and bank columns of triple column cash book work as
accounts and are therefore balanced. The discount columns on both receipt and payment sides are
only totaled and not balanced.

The procedure of posting entries from a cash book to ledger accounts has been explained in single
column cash book article. The same procedure is followed for posting entries from double as well as
triple column cash book to ledger accounts.

The following example summarizes the whole explanation of triple column cash book given above.

Example

The P&G LLC records its cash and bank transactions in a triple column cash book. The following
transactions were performed by the company during the month of June 2018.

 Jun 01: Cash in hand $800 (debit balance), Cash at bank $3,365 (debit balance).
 Jun 03: Paid James & Co. by check $1,175, discount received from him $25.
 Jun 05: Received from David & Co. a check amounting to $990, discount allowed to him
$10.
 Jun 07: Deposited into bank the check received from David & Co.
 Jun 10: Purchased stationary for cash, $170.
 Jun 15: Purchased merchandise for cash, $1,280.
 Jun 15: Cash sales for the first half of the month, $2,450.
 Jun 16: Deposited into bank $1,250.
 Jun 18: Withdrawn from bank for personal expenses $100.
 Jun 19: Issued a check amounting to $1,630 to James & Co. and discount received from him
$20.
 Jun 21: Drew from bank for office use, $420.
 Jun 24: Received a check amounting to $1,435 from Henry & Co. and allowed him a
discount of $15. The Henry’s check was deposited into bank immediately.
 Jun 25: Paid a check to Jacob Inc. amounting to $385 and received a discount of $15.
 Jun 27: Bought furniture for cash for office use, $380.
 Jun 29: Paid office rent by check, $350.
 Jun 30: Cash sales for the second half of the month $4,550.
  Jun 30: Paid salaries by check $760.
 Jun 30: Withdrew from bank for office use $470.

Required:

1. Record the above transactions in a triple/three column cash book of P & G LLC and balance
the cash and bank columns of the cash book.
2. Post entries from triple/three column cash book to appropriate accounts in general ledger,
accounts receivable subsidiary ledger and accounts payable subsidiary ledger.

Solution

1. Triple/three column cash book

1. Check received from David & Co. on June 05 has been recorded in the cash column because it was not
deposited into bank on the same date.
2. 450 is the number of discount allowed account in the general ledger. The discount allowed account is an
expense account.
3. 455 is the number of discount received account in the ledger. Discount received account is an
income/revenue account.