A first customer transaction pack gives a new company’s bookkeeper a clear starting point when trading begins before the bookkeeping routine is ready. Capture what the company agreed to supply, what it invoiced, what it delivered and what it received. Avoid relying on the founder’s memory once several orders and bank receipts accumulate.
Confirm the selling entity
Use the company’s accepted legal particulars on its records. Identify who agreed the sale and where the quotation or contract is stored. A personal discussion with the founder may need to be documented properly before finance can understand which entity is responsible for the transaction.
Do not assume incorporation alone resolves every permission, tax or licensing question. Ask the relevant adviser where the activity needs a separate check. The initial pack is an administration tool, not confirmation that the company may undertake every proposed business activity.
Create a simple document chain
Give the transaction a reference linking the accepted quotation, order, invoice, delivery or service evidence and payment. Record document dates separately. If the customer pays a deposit, describe it accurately and ask the accountant about the treatment rather than labelling the entire order paid.
Example: a deposit before the first bookkeeping appointment
A customer pays S$1,500 toward an agreed S$5,000 project. Keep the agreement, deposit request and bank receipt together, and record the remaining amount as an unresolved collection milestone. The example does not determine revenue recognition or GST treatment; those depend on the facts and should be reviewed.
Record who has already entered the sale
Some payment or invoicing software may create accounting entries automatically. Tell the bookkeeper which tools are connected and which entries the founder made manually. Otherwise, importing the invoice and adding the bank receipt as another sale can duplicate the same transaction.
Hand over a controlled opening pack
Include the company particulars, first transaction index, bank records and outstanding questions. Use secure company storage and give the bookkeeper authorised access. Keep customer information limited to what is needed for the work.
Establish the next routine
Agree how later invoices, receipts and expense documents will reach finance, who approves exceptions and when the first reconciliation will be reviewed. IRAS recordkeeping guidance requires records that explain business transactions. A consistent document chain makes that obligation easier to meet from the beginning.
Related practical guidance
For the surrounding work, see bookkeeping basics, bookkeeping and accounting, company records to keep.
Official guidance: IRAS company recordkeeping requirements.
Help with your company records
For corporate secretarial and company administration support, contact Raffles Corporate Services at [email protected] or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133. Tell us which records or process need attention so we can discuss the relevant next steps.
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