NRS-15818 | Cash books [Municipality of Balmain]

These accounting records were initially created under s.38 of the An Act for establishing Municipalities Institutions 1858 (22, Victoria Act No. 13), and subsequent legislation. This section specified that the council keep books of accounts, which were to be made available to auditors. The Council was also to prepare a detailed account of expenditure and revenue to be published in June and December. Municipal Accounting regulations also governed the format and type of records to be maintained.These Cash Books form part of a standard public sector accounting system. This system generally comprised Cash Books, Journals (General and Subsidiary), and Ledgers (General and Subsidiary).The purpose of Cash Books in the accounting system was to record receipts and payments of cash and cheques. The cash book was also utilised to indicate the balance of the amount of cash available at any time. (1) The Cash Book, like the journal, was a book of original entry. Each entry involved two accounts a debit and a credit, which was considered a “balanced” entry. At regular intervals cash Book entries were posted to the ledger. (2) The cash book was also known as the Cash Receipts and Cash Payment Journal. (3)These Cash Books contain details of the Cash account maintained by the Council. Income and expenditure recorded by the Cash Books, including rates, fees, maintenance and repairs, was accredited into the General Fund. The Council also maintained other funds such as loans and trust funds. Under Schedule 1 of the 1908 Municipal Accounting Regulations, (4) accounts were classified into General Purpose (G.P) Public Works (P.W), Public Service (P.S), Health Administration (H.A) and Shire Property.There are some gaps in the content of the series, as the Cash Books for 1930 – 1933 are missing and may not be extant. Custody History This series was in the custody of Mitchell library until December 2001 when it was transferred to State Records NSW under section 29 of the State Records Act, 1998.End Notes (1) Stanley, P Accounting for non accountants: the plain English guide to accounting Information Australia Melbourne 1999 p.33(2) Ibid p. 39 – 40 (3) Ibid p.33(4) NSW Government Gazette 19 November, 1908 p. 6131 – 6135