Daily revenue journal: easily track your sales

28/05/2025

Do you regularly sell to private customers as part of your business? You might wonder whether you need to issue an invoice for every sale. That’s not always necessary. The daily revenue journal offers a practical alternative. This article explains what it is, when to use it, and how to maintain it correctly.

What is a daily revenue journal?

The daily revenue journal is a register in which you record sales for which no invoice is issued.

In the past, this was a paper logbook. Today, it can also be kept digitally.

It is especially useful for businesses with many daily transactions with private individuals.

For each sale, you have two options:

  • issue an invoice

  • or record it in the daily revenue journal

Businesses and professionals usually request an invoice (to recover VAT). If a private customer does not request one, you can record the sale in your daily revenue journal.

When should you use a daily revenue journal?

The answer depends on the type of your business:

The daily revenue journal is ideal for businesses with many small transactions. Do you run a shop, bakery, or hospitality business with dozens of sales per day? Then this system will save you a lot of time. You only need to record the total amount of all non-invoiced sales once per day.

It is less suitable if you have only a limited number of sales. If you make just a few sales per day, issuing invoices may actually require less effort than updating your daily revenue journal every day (since you must enter a value daily, even if it is zero).

Paper or digital: what should you choose?

You have two options to keep your daily revenue journal: paper or digital.

Pre-printed journals are available in office supply stores. In that case, you transfer the totals monthly into your digital accounting.

However, working fully digitally is more efficient. Important: using a simple Excel file is not legally allowed and may result in fines of up to €4,000. You are required to use a solution that complies with legal requirements, such as the digital daily revenue journal in PIA Go!.

Important! / Did you know…
The rules for a digital daily revenue journal are strict. Entries can never be deleted—only corrections are allowed, with the original entry remaining visible. Sales must be recorded in strict chronological order, and every day must include an entry, even if the amount is zero.

What if a client later requests an invoice?

If you already recorded a sale in the journal and the client later asks for an invoice:

In PIA Go!:

  • reduce the journal total by the invoiced amount

  • add a note explaining that an invoice was issued

PIA Go!: your digital daily revenue journal

PIA Go! makes managing your daily revenue journal simple and compliant.

You benefit from:

  • fast and easy daily entries

  • automatic compliance with legal requirements

  • reliable tracking of your sales

Want to simplify your sales administration?

Schedule a free video consultation today.

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FAQ

A mandatory register where you record sales without invoices, typically for cash sales to private individuals.

Each day, record:

  • total non-invoiced sales

  • corresponding VAT

The journal must be complete, chronological, and accurate.

Yes—if it meets legal requirements (no deletion, proper tracking, etc.).
PIA Go! provides a compliant digital solution.

  • With invoice → recorded in the sales journal

  • Without invoice → recorded in the daily revenue journal

PIA Go! allows you to:

  • quickly record daily revenues

  • stay compliant with regulations

  • rely on your accountant to verify everything

You stay in control—without the complexity.

Charlotte
Written by Charlotte Backelandt , Marketing & Content Specialist,
reviewed by Tom Castelein, Personal Income Tax Expert.