---
title: "Party Ledger: Format, Example and How to Track Who Owes You"
description: "What a party ledger is, the columns it needs, a filled ₹ example with running balance, and how to keep customer dues up to date from your phone."
canonical_url: "https://billbabu.com/blog/party-ledger-customer-supplier-balances"
markdown_url: "https://billbabu.com/blog/party-ledger-customer-supplier-balances.md"
type: "blog-post"
language: "en-IN"
published: "2026-05-15"
last_updated: "2026-10-04"
author: "BillBabu Team"
category: "Accounting"
tags: ["party ledger", "customer dues", "outstanding payments", "ledger format", "udhaar"]
site: "BillBabu (https://billbabu.com)"
---
# Party Ledger: Format, Example and How to Track Who Owes You

By BillBabu Team · Published 15 May 2026 · Updated 4 October 2026 · Category: Accounting

**In short**

- A **party ledger** is the account of one customer or supplier: every bill, every payment and the balance after each.
- Columns: date, particulars, bill or receipt number, debit, credit and balance.
- For a customer: closing balance = opening balance + bills − payments received. A positive balance is what they owe you.
- Update it the day money comes in, and share a statement before you give more credit.

## What is a party ledger?

"Party" is the accounting word for anyone you do business with: customers and suppliers. A party ledger keeps all your dealings with one party on one page, in date order, so you can answer two questions in seconds: how much do they owe me, and since when?

Shopkeepers have always kept this in a khata or udhaar book. The ledger is the same idea, laid out in columns so that the balance is always correct and anyone, including your CA, can follow it.

## Party ledger format

| Column | What goes in it |
| --- | --- |
| Date | The date of the bill or the payment |
| Particulars | "Sales invoice", "Payment received by UPI", "Opening balance" and so on |
| Ref. no. | Invoice number, cheque number or UPI reference |
| Debit (Dr) | Amounts the party owes you: your sales bills |
| Credit (Cr) | Amounts that reduce what they owe: payments received |
| Balance | The running total after each line, marked Dr (they owe you) or Cr (you owe them) |

For a supplier the sides swap: their bills to you are credits, and your payments to them are debits. A supplier's balance is normally Cr, which means you owe them.

## Filled example: a customer's ledger for one quarter

Sharma General Store sells to Gupta Traders on credit. Gupta Traders owed ₹5,000 at the start of July.

| Date | Particulars | Ref. no. | Debit (₹) | Credit (₹) | Balance (₹) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 Jul | Opening balance |   |   |   | 5,000 Dr |
| 8 Jul | Sales invoice | INV-2026-0118 | 23,600 |   | 28,600 Dr |
| 20 Jul | Payment received, UPI | UPI ref. 4521 |   | 10,000 | 18,600 Dr |
| 5 Aug | Sales invoice | INV-2026-0151 | 11,800 |   | 30,400 Dr |
| 2 Sep | Payment received, cheque | Chq. 004417 |   | 15,000 | 15,400 Dr |

The check: ₹5,000 opening + ₹35,400 of bills − ₹25,000 of payments = ₹15,400 still due. Each line also tells a story. The 20 July payment cleared only part of the 8 July bill, and the next bill went out before the first was settled. If Gupta Traders asks for more credit today, you know exactly what is pending and since when.

## Customer ledger vs supplier ledger

|   | Customer ledger | Supplier ledger |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bills increase | What they owe you (Dr) | What you owe them (Cr) |
| Payments reduce | Money you receive (Cr) | Money you pay (Dr) |
| Normal balance | Dr: receivable | Cr: payable |
| Question it answers | Who owes me, and how much? | Whom do I owe, and when is it due? |

## Habits that keep the ledger right

- **Record payments the same day**, with the mode (cash, UPI, cheque, bank transfer) and the reference number. A UPI reference settles most "but I paid you" conversations.
- **Record part payments as they come.** ₹10,000 against a ₹23,600 bill is normal. Do not wait for the full amount to write anything down.
- **Look at the balance before giving more credit.** One glance at the ledger is cheaper than a bad debt.
- **Share a statement every month** with customers who buy on credit. Ask them to compare it with their books; differences found early are easy to fix.
- **Start with an honest opening balance.** If you move from a paper khata, total each party's old dues and enter that as the opening balance on day one.

## Keeping customer ledgers in BillBabu

In the BillBabu app, every customer has a party screen. It shows three numbers at the top (Outstanding, Paid and Total) and below them every invoice and every payment for that customer. From the same screen you can:

- **Add a payment**: cash, bank transfer, cheque, UPI, card or other, with a reference number and notes. Part payments are fine.
- **Call the customer** with one tap.
- **Share a PDF statement** with the opening and closing balance, through WhatsApp or any app.

Moving from a paper khata? Enter each customer's old dues as their opening balance when you add them. Your parties list then shows what each customer owes in total, and it updates as you bill and record payments.

One honest limit: BillBabu's party screen is built for **customer dues**. It counts your sales invoices and the payments you receive. Purchase bills you record do raise your stock, but they are not yet netted into a supplier's balance, so for now keep supplier dues on the supplier's own statement or in your book.

Sending bills on time makes the ledger work. Here is [how to send a bill on WhatsApp as a PDF](https://billbabu.com/blog/how-to-send-invoices-whatsapp-india), and why [clean invoice numbers](https://billbabu.com/blog/how-to-number-invoices-correctly-best-practices) make matching payments easy. You can see the whole flow on our [online billing software](https://billbabu.com/online-billing-software-india) page.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the difference between a party ledger and a khata?

They do the same job. A khata is usually a notebook of what each customer owes. A party ledger adds columns for debit, credit and a running balance, so the total is always correct and easy to check.

### Is a payment received a debit or a credit in the customer's ledger?

A credit. It reduces what the customer owes you. Your sales bills to them are debits.

### What is an opening balance in a party ledger?

The amount the party already owed you (or you owed them) on the day you started the ledger. It is the first line, before any new bills or payments.

### How often should I send a ledger statement to customers?

Monthly works for most credit customers, and always before you extend more credit to someone with a large balance.

**Know who owes you, without opening the khata.** BillBabu is a GST billing app for Android, with a web app at app.billbabu.com. Make GST invoices and estimates, share them as PDFs and see who still owes you money. Every account starts with a 14-day free trial, and you do not need a card. [Get BillBabu on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.billbabu.app) or see [plans and prices](https://billbabu.com/pricing).

---

This is the Markdown version of https://billbabu.com/blog/party-ledger-customer-supplier-balances for AI assistants. Product summary and every page: https://billbabu.com/llms.txt