Q.Which of the following transactions will be recorded in the Sales Book?

This question checks whether you know exactly what the Sales Book is meant to capture, and — just as importantly — what it deliberately leaves out.

Only option (b), sale of goods on credit, belongs in the Sales Book. Cash sales go through the Cash Book; the sale of an asset not meant for resale (the delivery van) or of investments, even on credit, goes through the Journal Proper, since neither is "goods."

The Sales Book is a specialised subsidiary book with a narrow, precise scope: it records ONLY credit sales of goods that the business normally deals in (i.e. goods meant for resale). Checking each option against this test:

1. Sale of goods for cash — NOT recorded in the Sales Book. A cash sale is recorded in the Cash Book, since the Sales Book exists specifically to capture CREDIT transactions.
2. Sale of goods on credit — CORRECT. This is exactly what the Sales Book exists for: goods dealt in by the business, sold on credit, recorded from the outgoing Sales Invoice.
3. Sale of an old delivery van on credit — NOT recorded in the Sales Book. A delivery van is a fixed asset, not "goods" the business trades in; its credit sale is journalised in the Journal Proper (crediting the Delivery Van Account, debiting the buyer).
4. Sale of investments held by the business — NOT recorded in the Sales Book, for the same reason as (c): investments are not goods dealt in by the business; this too is a Journal Proper entry.
   ✓Final answer

   Option (b) is correct — the Sales Book records only credit sales of goods the business deals in. Options (a), (c) and (d) each fail one of the two tests (credit, and goods dealt in) that define what belongs in the Sales Book.

Students often assume any credit transaction of the business belongs in the Sales Book. The second test — is the item actually "goods" the business trades in, or is it a fixed asset/investment? — is just as important as the first test (credit vs cash), and it is exactly what options (c) and (d) are designed to catch.