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

There’s not a textbook for empathy the way there is for Python or for bookkeeping.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

Automation had been hollowing out middle-skill work since the early 2000s, quietly eliminating the clerical roles, bookkeeping jobs and sales positions that once absorbed India's graduates.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

In death as in life, the only relief he can find is in the bookkeeping drudgery that has become not just his identity but his very soul.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

Others included shamelessness, stubbornness and an elastic approach to bookkeeping.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

On welcoming me aboard he told me that I was first to work in the bookkeeping section, sorting and filing checks according to some intricate accounting system.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane