What a khata is
A khata — bahi khata, udhar khata — is a running account for one customer. Every purchase on credit is added, every payment is taken off, and the balance is what that customer owes today:
| Date | Entry | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Sep | Bill 4410 — groceries | +₹1,260 | ₹1,260 |
| 9 Sep | Bill 4533 | +₹845 | ₹2,105 |
| 12 Sep | Paid by UPI | −₹1,000 | ₹1,105 |
| 20 Sep | Bill 4702 | +₹1,480 | ₹2,585 |
| 30 Sep | Paid in cash, receipt 88 | −₹585 | ₹2,000 |
Two things make this page useful in an argument: every purchase carries its bill number, and every payment carries its method and date. “Around ₹2,000, I think” is how udhar is lost.
Who gets udhar, and how much
- Only customers you know, with a name, an address and a working mobile number — checked with a call or a message the first time.
- A limit for each customer, based on what they buy in a normal month; raise it only after a few months paid on time.
- A settle-by rule everybody knows — say, the month’s balance is cleared by the 10th of the next month.
- One person who may approve going over a limit, and nobody else.
- No new udhar while an old balance is overdue under your rule.
A debt with no way to reach the person is a gift.
Recording it properly
- A bill for every credit sale, with its number on the khata line.
- Every payment with its date and method — cash, UPI, card — and a receipt number for cash.
- Never overwrite or strike out a line. A mistake is corrected by a new line that says what it corrects.
- Returns go on the account as a credit against the bill they came from.
- Keep family members’ accounts separate unless they have agreed to share one.
- For a large purchase on credit, have the customer confirm it — a signature in the register, or a reply to a message with the amount.
Statements and reminders
Send every khata customer a statement on the same day each month: opening balance, each bill, each payment, closing balance. Put your UPI ID or a UPI QR code for the exact amount on it — the easier it is to pay, the sooner it happens.
A schedule you decide once and follow for everybody avoids awkward conversations, because it is not personal. For example:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 1st of the month | The statement goes out |
| 10th | A friendly reminder to anyone who has not paid |
| 20th | A phone call |
| 30th | No further credit until the balance moves |
A reminder message that gets paid
Short, friendly, with the exact amount and a way to pay in one tap. The same words every month, to everybody, so nobody feels singled out:
English: “Namaste Ramesh ji, your khata with Sharma Store for September is ₹2,000 (bills 4410, 4533 and 4702, less ₹1,585 paid). You can pay by UPI to [your UPI ID]. Thank you!”
Hindi: “नमस्ते रमेश जी, शर्मा स्टोर में सितंबर का आपका खाता ₹2,000 है (बिल 4410, 4533 और 4702, ₹1,585 जमा के बाद)। UPI से [आपकी UPI ID] पर भुगतान कर सकते हैं। धन्यवाद!”
Name the bills, not just the total: a customer who can check the list pays sooner than one who has to take your word for it.
Ageing: which balances to worry about
Once a month, sort what customers owe by how old it is. A shop can live with a lot of young udhar; old udhar is the part that turns into losses.
| Age of the balance | Owed | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0–30 days | ₹18,400 | Normal — it goes on the monthly statement |
| 31–60 days | ₹6,250 | A reminder with the statement, then a call |
| 61–90 days | ₹3,100 | No further credit until it moves |
| Over 90 days | ₹2,700 | A settlement talk, and a signed acknowledgment of the balance |
In this example ₹5,800 of the ₹30,450 owed — 19% — is more than two months old. That is the number to bring down, customer by customer.
The three-year rule
The Limitation Act, 1963 sets how long you have to go to court for money owed. For the price of goods sold and delivered where no fixed period of credit was agreed, it is three years from the date the goods were delivered (Article 14 of the Schedule). If a fixed credit period was agreed, the three years run from the day that period ends (Article 15).
Two things give you a fresh three years, if they happen before the old period runs out:
- A written acknowledgment of the debt, signed by the customer (section 18). The new period runs from the day it was signed.
- A payment on account (section 19) — but only if the payment is acknowledged in the handwriting of, or in a writing signed by, the person who paid.
The practical habit: once a year, ask every customer with an old balance to sign the statement, or a line in your register, confirming what they owe. Whether a UPI payment record by itself counts as the written acknowledgment section 19 asks for is a question for a lawyer; a signed statement is the safer record.
Recovering an old balance
- Talk in person, with the statement and its bill numbers in hand. Most disputes are about one bill, not the whole balance.
- Agree instalments the customer can actually pay, write the plan down, and have them sign it.
- Stop further credit until the plan is on track.
- For a larger amount that is still refused, take advice before sending any notice.
- When you decide a balance will not be paid, write it off with a reason and a date, so it stops sitting in your figures as money you are owed.
Khata and the cash drawer
A khata sale is a sale with no money yet. It belongs in the customer’s account, not in the drawer total; count it as cash and the drawer will look short by exactly that amount. The payment that comes later is money in on the day it arrives, and not a second sale. Our day book guide shows how to keep the two apart.