Definition of "on the books"
on the books
prepositional phrase
Contained in an official list (of members, employees, clients, projects etc.).
Quotations
In a final Italian-themed story, a host of Premier League clubs including Crystal Palace, West Ham, West Brom, plus the Championship pair Norwich and Watford, are being linked with a swoop for the French defender Jean-Claude Billong – who is on the books at Salernitana in Serie B.
2020 September 4, Luke McLaughlin, “Football transfer rumours: Felipe Anderson in, Sokratis out at Arsenal?”, in The Guardian
This forced the company to focus on developing advanced projects on its books. And fast. All too often, it ended up selling out at an early stage just to get money in to keep the show on the road.
2021 January 22, Joe Brennan, “Has Eddie O’Connor underestimated the value of his €1bn baby?”, in The Irish Times
Recorded or registered, especially in an official or definitive manner.
Quotations
The event was free, but there was a donation bowl for those who wanted to contribute and it was pretty packed with greenbacks. The first community soup event was on the books now.
2010, Larry Stettner, Bill Morrison, Cooking for the Common Good: The Birth of a Natural Foods Soup Kitchen, Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, page 133
“Chromatica” has become Lady Gaga’s sixth No. 1 album, with the equivalent of 274,000 sales in the United States, according to data from Nielsen Music. […] A six-date stadium tour is on the books for this summer, although, like most tours nowadays, it is unclear whether it will go forward as planned.
2020 June 8, Ben Sisario, “Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica’ Is Her Sixth No. 1 Album”, in The New York Times
(business, accounting) Officially recorded in the financial records of a company or organization.
Quotations
The Southern acquired them because the little Class "B4" 0-4-0 tanks were finding heavy modern rolling stock more and more of a handful, and at war's end the railway had nothing of suitable power but short wheelbase on its books to take their place on the more tortuous of the dock lines.
1959 February, G. Freeman Allen, “Southampton—Gateway to the Ocean”, in Trains Illustrated, page 91
(law) Officially recorded in the lawbooks; having the force of enacted law.
Quotations
There are a lot of battlements to breach before a national Human Rights Act is on the books. Nonetheless, there is movement at the station and a relatively unnoticed but important step is in the hands of a multi-party, joint parliamentary committee looking at combatting slavery.
2017 November 17, Richard Ackland, “Erasing modern slavery is a slow process, but it catches on in Australia”, in The Guardian