self employed and cash sales - do you give receipt

[FinePix]

hi - i am new to this site and in need of some advice....
I am currently in the middle of a bookkeeping course. I have been asked by a friend, a self employed street trader, to manage his paperwork. I am unsure as to the position on the way he manages his cash sales. At the moment he just writes down how much he does in any one day and totals at the end of the week. No receipts - obviously no till roles etc. Is this enough? We are not talking great money here - a summer time street trader dealing in cash sales. I am worried that his word for the sales is not enough - what would be the best solution.

I have looked all over for answer to question - does he have to give a receipt for every sale he makes.

Can anyone help me.

[sheelagh]

There is nothing wrong with a hand written system as long as it is complete and correct.
Make sure he is writing down his total takings, not just the amount left at the end of the day. He could have used some of his cash to pay for stock, casual labour, his lunch, taken some to the bank, or anything else.
He should show that total sales, less expenditure = net cash held. There might also be a note of the float value.
He should keep receipts for any expenditure.
If you have reason to believe he is understating his sales, don't touch it. As a provider of accounting services you would have an obligation to report under money laundering regulations if he was a client.

[FinePix]

Thanks for your reply - it's not that i think he may be understating his takings - just that i thought something "more" was needed in the way of proving his takings.

He keeps a record of his sales and writes it down at the end of every day together with any receipts for expenses - all on paper - he wants me to keep a better record of it all. As I said - I'm not qualified - not yet - I have read through loads of stuff relating to invoicing and the like but could not find anything relating to how a street trader would account for his sales - wasn't sure his word would be enough.

[CertaxBexley]

A street trader would do as he is already doing.
Ideally use one of the bookkeeping books available from any stationers

[FinePix]

He used to use one of those books - now though he is branching out into doing "gigs" as he calls them - not just street trading but going to functions - still being paid in cash on the day though. Would those simple book keeping books still be sufficient for his purposes. He does not give invoices as everything is cash, up front, on the day. People do not ask for receipts and he does not give any - is this ok from a bookkeeping point of view.

[CertaxBexley]

That would be fine, if by gigs he means festivals and the like, then name of festival should be noted