Indian business runs in two vocabularies at once: the words of the traditional bahikhata and the language of modern accounting and GST. This glossary puts them side by side. Terms are grouped so related words sit together.
Traditional khata words
- Bahi (बही)
- A bound book or register. A bahikhata is an account book.
- Khata (खाता)
- An account, usually the page for one person or one head of expense.
- Khatauni (खतौनी)
- The act of posting entries into the right khata; also a ledger in land records.
- Rokad (रोकड़)
- Cash. Rokad bahi is the cash book.
- Rokad baaki (रोकड़ बाकी)
- Cash balance at the end of the day.
- Naam (नाम)
- The debit side of a personal account. Writing an amount "in someone's naam" means they owe it.
- Jama (जमा)
- The credit side; amounts received from or credited to a person.
- Udhaar (उधार)
- Credit given or taken. Udhaar diya means credit given; udhaar liya means credit taken.
- Len-den (लेन-देन)
- Transactions; literally taking and giving.
- Lena (लेना)
- Amount to be received. "Mujhe lena hai" means I will get money.
- Dena (देना)
- Amount to be paid.
- Baaki (बाकी)
- Balance remaining.
- Hisaab (हिसाब)
- Account or calculation. Hisaab-kitaab means accounts in general.
- Munim (मुनीम)
- A traditional accountant who kept the bahi for a merchant.
- Seth (सेठ)
- A merchant or business owner.
- Gaddi (गद्दी)
- The merchant's seat or firm; also the traditional office.
- Aadhat (आढ़त)
- Commission agency, common in grain markets. The agent is an aadhatiya.
- Dalali (दलाली)
- Brokerage.
- Hundi (हुंडी)
- A traditional bill of exchange used to transfer money or give credit.
- Byaj or sood (ब्याज, सूद)
- Interest. Often quoted in rupees per hundred per month.
- Mool (मूल)
- Principal amount of a loan.
- Kisht (किश्त)
- Instalment.
- Karz (कर्ज़)
- Loan or debt.
- Peshgi (पेशगी)
- Advance payment.
- Bayana (बयाना)
- Earnest money paid to confirm a deal.
- Tagada (तगादा)
- Reminder or demand for payment of dues.
- Vasooli (वसूली)
- Recovery of dues.
- Nafa or labh (नफ़ा, लाभ)
- Profit.
- Nuksaan or ghaata (नुकसान, घाटा)
- Loss.
- Poonji (पूंजी)
- Capital invested by the owner.
- Aamdani (आमदनी)
- Income.
- Kharcha (खर्चा)
- Expense. Jama-kharch means income and expenditure.
- Maal (माल)
- Goods or stock.
- Parchi (पर्ची)
- A slip or rough bill.
- Chalan (चालान)
- Delivery note or challan accompanying goods.
- Chopda pujan (चोपड़ा पूजन)
- The Diwali ritual of worshipping new account books, especially in Gujarat.
Modern accounting terms
- Ledger
- The book of accounts with one account per person, asset, liability, income or expense.
- Journal or day book
- The book where transactions are first recorded in date order.
- Debit and credit
- The left and right sides of an account. See our guide to the golden rules.
- Trial balance
- A list of all account balances, used to check that total debits equal total credits.
- Debtors or accounts receivable
- Money customers owe you.
- Creditors or accounts payable
- Money you owe suppliers.
- Drawings
- Money or goods the owner takes from the business for personal use.
- Depreciation
- Spreading the cost of an asset over its useful life.
- Bad debt
- Money owed to you that you no longer expect to recover.
- Gross profit
- Sales minus cost of goods sold.
- Net profit
- Gross profit minus all running expenses.
- Working capital
- Current assets minus current liabilities; the money that runs daily operations.
- Reconciliation
- Matching your records with another source, such as a bank statement or a supplier's statement.
- Balance confirmation
- A statement sent to a customer or supplier asking them to confirm the balance in their books.
- Financial year
- The 12 months from 1 April to 31 March used for tax and accounts in India.
GST and tax terms
- GSTIN
- The 15-character GST identification number. The first two digits are the state code and characters 3 to 12 are the PAN. Check one with our GSTIN checker.
- CGST, SGST, UTGST and IGST
- Central, State, Union Territory and Integrated GST. Intra-state supplies attract CGST plus SGST or UTGST; inter-state supplies attract IGST.
- HSN and SAC
- Codes that classify goods (HSN) and services (SAC) and decide the GST rate.
- ITC (input tax credit)
- GST paid on purchases that a registered business can set off against GST on its sales.
- Place of supply
- The location that decides whether a supply is intra-state or inter-state.
- Reverse charge (RCM)
- Cases where the buyer, not the seller, pays the GST to the government.
- Composition scheme
- A simplified GST scheme for small businesses that pay a flat percentage of turnover and cannot claim ITC.
- Bill of supply
- The document issued instead of a tax invoice by composition dealers or for exempt supplies.
- GSTR-1
- The return reporting details of outward supplies (sales).
- GSTR-3B
- The monthly or quarterly summary return through which GST is paid.
- GSTR-2B
- An auto-generated statement of input tax credit available, based on suppliers' filings.
- QRMP
- Quarterly Return, Monthly Payment scheme for businesses with turnover up to ₹5 crore.
- CMP-08
- The quarterly statement-cum-challan filed by composition dealers.
- E-invoice and IRN
- Reporting B2B invoices to the government portal, which returns an Invoice Reference Number and QR code.
- E-way bill
- An electronic document for moving goods above the value threshold.
- AATO
- Annual aggregate turnover, used to decide thresholds such as e-invoicing and HSN digits.
- PAN
- Permanent Account Number for income tax.
- TDS and TCS
- Tax deducted at source and tax collected at source.
- Advance tax
- Income tax paid in instalments during the year instead of in one go at the end.
- Udyam
- The government's MSME registration. See our Udyam guide.
This guide is general information to help you understand the topic. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and rates change; confirm details for your situation with a qualified professional or the official government portal. Read our editorial policy.