bookkeeping

American  

[book-kee-ping] / ˈbʊkˌki pɪŋ /

noun

1. the work or skill of keeping account books or systematic records of money transactions (distinguished from accounting).

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Other Word Forms

• bookkeeper
  noun

Etymology

Origin of bookkeeping

First recorded in 1680–90; book + keeping

Explanation

Bookkeeping is keeping track of a business's financial transactions. Most bookkeeping these days happens on computers rather than in actual books. The activity of keeping your own financial records and the job of doing the same thing for a company are both considered bookkeeping. Some people teach themselves basic bookkeeping and others hire experts to do it for them. The word bookkeeping comes from the sense of book that means "record" or "written document," and it has the distinction of being one of very few words in English with three consecutive double letters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bookkeeping

He said that independent farmers are already spread thinly, doing every job from bookkeeping, to HR, to tractor driving.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The riskiest segments included administrative support, data entry, bookkeeping, and editing, said the study.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 17, 2026

Amanda said she is picking up whatever work she can, including hospital administrative duties and bookkeeping gigs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

As Jackson’s media prominence grew — including a cover photo on Time magazine in 1970 — tensions erupted between Jackson and SCLC, in part because of the sloppy bookkeeping that became a Jackson characteristic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026

The idea that accurate figures could make a fundamental difference started with double-entry bookkeeping in the thirteenth century; it then spread to the sciences, and outwards from both accountancy and science to government.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton