The Grand Commander, who was just beneath the abbot in rank, was the one who received most of the abbey's revenues. He kept the accounts, noting revenues and expenses separately. Normally, the fiscal year began on July 22, which is the feast of Saint Mary Magdalen, and ended on the same date the following year.

Since the French Revolution, the account books of the abbey of Saint-Denis have been in France's National Archives in Paris. Although it contains gaps, this documentation is a very rich source of information. The extract given here is from the expenses, and concerns the abbey and the monastic borough. The text is in two columns and is written in Latin. A literal translation of the text is not easy : often, the rather laconic entries list merely the object of the expense and the amount paid. Sometimes the name of the recipient is listed. The scribe used a vocabulary that was a mix of classical Latin, medieval Latin and French, whether latinised or not. The spelling varies considerably.

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