books meaning

• [Business]
  noun [pl.]

  STATUTORY BOOKS

  1 (Accounting ) (also account books)

  the written record of the financial affairs of a business:

  People who run their own business often do the books themselves.

  a bid to balance the books

  The bank is aiming to clear all bad loans off its books over the next year.

  SYN ACCOUNTS

  ❖ to audit/do/keep the books

  ◆ to balance the books

  2

  a record of the customers, orders and stock that a company has:

  There are no other large orders on the books.

  They found they had a lot more old stock on the books than previously thought.

  ⇨ BOOK noun (3)

  IDIOMS

  cook the books (informal)

  to put false information in a company's accounts:

  The books were cooked to make profits seem much higher than they were.

  (be) on sb's books (HR )

  (to be) on an organization's list, for example the list of people who work for a company, or a list of people who are available for a particular type of work:

  It's the largest security firm in the UK with 10 000 staff on its books.

  The agency have no Spanish-speaking secretaries on their books at the moment.

• be on the books:    1. To have one's n ...
• on the books:    [American slang]Go ...
• account books:    [Medicine]Books in ...

Examples

1. the police seized various books and tapes.
2. her books have gone off in recent years.
3. her brother shut himself up among books.
4. you can read this book in one sitting.
5. the book does not say where he was born.