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"Single-entry accounting" usually means that you have one account that is the source of truth for the whole operation. For example, you use the checking account balance. When you take in sales, you put it in the sales column and increase the balance. When you pay the electric bill you put it in the electric column and decrease the balance. You have a couple issues:

1. How do you keep track of unpaid invoices and bills?

2. How do you account for things like asset values, depreciation, etc.?

3. If you have income or expenses that register multiple accounts, you have to sum the right columns.

4. If you missed a leg of a complicated transaction (recording the income and sales tax liability for the day across multiple payment forms, for example), you might never know it, e.g., you might accidentally record the sales tax payable as income.

Using the accrual accounting method (as opposed to the cash method), where you book sales at the time they occur, is next to impossible with single-entry accounting. If you have a mostly inventory-based business, you have to use the accrual method in the US. Most businesses that must make financial statements available to investors will use the accrual method.