Plain (Plane) Khata vs Ruled Khata: Which Register Suits Your Shop?

“Plane khata” and “ruled khata” are the two choices every shopkeeper faces when buying a register, and the difference is not about quality. It is about how you write.

What plain and ruled mean

• Plain (plane) khata: blank pages, no printed lines. You decide the layout on every page.
• Ruled khata: printed lines already on the page, usually in columns, so date, particulars, amount and balance stay in their own place.

When a plain khata is the better buy

Plain pages win wherever the entry itself changes shape:

• Item-wise entries where one line can be a full description of goods, weight and rate.
• Mixed use — a page of accounts, the next page of stock notes, a third page of order details.
• Drawing a layout once and repeating it by hand, when a printed form does not fit your trade.
• Trades that need wide columns: commission agents, wholesalers, contractors.

A plain register is also the choice when you want to rule your own columns to match exactly how your shop writes. The plain bahi khata register is the format most shops in this situation pick, in 22 x 29 with 6 x 14 inch page space.

When a ruled khata saves you time

Ruled pages win wherever entries repeat in the same pattern, which is most retail shops:

• Daily cash book: date, particulars, receipt, payment, balance.
• Stock register: quantity inwards, outwards and balance per item.
• Any register where a total has to be struck at month end across hundreds of lines.

Printed lines keep the columns straight, so a balance column can be scanned and totalled without reading every entry. On plain pages the third column slowly creeps sideways across the page, and by the tenth sheet a total becomes an exercise in squinting. The canvas ruled register in full 17 x 28 inch size is the standard for this kind of work, and the copy canvas ruled register covers smaller counters.

The two decisions that matter more than ruling

1. Size: a counter register wants to be small enough to stay open beside the till. A register you total monthly wants to be big enough to read comfortably — 17 x 28 inch is the common full size.
2. Bhan: more bhan means a thicker register, which means fewer books to carry forward. Estimate how many pages you fill in a month before choosing.

Ruling is easy to decide once you know how your entries look: same pattern every day, take ruled; changing pattern, take plain.

Quick guide by shop type

• Kirana / general store: a ruled daily cash book plus a udhar khata. See the daily hisab kitab routine.
• Medical store: ruled stock register for medicine movement, plus a cash book.
• Garment or hardware: plain pages for item-wise entries are usually easier, or a ruled book with wide particulars columns.
• Agent or wholesaler: plain khata, because every entry carries a description.

Still deciding on format and thickness? The size guide covers sizes and bhan in detail. Everything we supply is listed under account books and registers.

In one line: ruled for repeating entries that need totalling, plain for entries that keep changing shape.