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- Debit & Credit 2 5 4 – Personal Finance Manager Salary
- Debit & Credit 2 5 4 – Personal Finance Manager Duties
Debit vs Credit – What's the Difference?
A debit is an accounting entry that results in either an increase in assets or a decrease in liabilities on a company's balance sheet.
The double entry accounting system is based on the concept of debits and credits. This is an area where many new accounting students get confused. Often people think debits mean additions while credits mean subtractions. This isn't the case at all.
Debits and credits actually refer to the side of the ledger that journal entries are posted to. A debit, sometimes abbreviated as Dr., is an entry that is recorded on the left side of the accounting ledger or T-account. Conversely, a credit or Cr. is an entry on the right side of the ledger.
This right-side, left-side idea stems from the accounting equation where debits always have to equal credits in order to balance the mathematically equation.
If you will notice, debit accounts are always shown on the left side of the accounting equation while credit accounts are shown on the right side. Thus, debit entries are always recorded on the left and credit entries are always recorded on the right.
So debits and credits don't actually mean plusses and minuses. Instead, they reflect account balances and their relationship in the accounting equation.
Debit and Credit Accounts and Their Balances
There are several different types of accounts in an accounting system. Each account is assigned either a debit balance or credit balance based on which side of the accounting equation it falls. Here are the main three types of accounts.
Assets
All normal asset accounts have a debit balance. This means that asset accounts with a positive balance are always reported on the left side of a T-Account. Assets are increased by debits and decreased by credits.
Liabilities
All normal liabilities have a credit balance. In other words, these accounts have a positive balance on the right side of a T-Account. Liabilities are increased by credits and decreased by debits.
Equity Accounts
Equity accounts like retained earnings and common stock also have a credit balances. This means that equity accounts are increased by credits and decreased by debits.
Contra Accounts
Notice I said that all 'normal' accounts above behave that way. Well, what is an un-normal account? Contra accounts are accounts that have an opposite debit or credit balance. For instance, a contra asset account has a credit balance and a contra equity account has a debit balance. These accounts are used to reduce normal accounts. For example, accumulated depreciation is a contra asset account that reduces a fixed asset account.
Credit vs Debit Examples
— Bob's Furniture needs to buy a new delivery truck because their current truck is started to fall apart. Bob purchases the new truck for $5,000, so he writes a check to the car company and receives the truck in exchange. Bob's cash is being reduced by the $5,000 and his fixed assets are being increased by $5,000. Bob would record this entry like this:
Debit & Credit 2 5 4 – Personal Finance Manager Salary
As you can see, Bob's cash is credited (decreased) and his vehicles account is debited (increased).
— Now let's take the same example as above except let's assume Bob paid for the truck by taking out a loan. Bob's vehicle account would still increase by $5,000, but his cash would not decrease because he is paying with a loan. Instead, his liabilities account would increase.
As you can see, Bob's liabilities account is credited (increased) and his vehicles account is debited (increased).
Debit & Credit 2 5 4 – Personal Finance Manager Duties
— Now let's assume that Bob's Furniture didn't purchase the truck at all. It couldn't afford to buy a new one, so Bob just contributed his personal truck to the company. In this case, Bob's vehicle account would still increase, but his cash and liabilities would stay the same. Bob's equity account would increase because he contributed the truck.
As you can see, Bob's equity account is credited (increased) and his vehicles account is debited (increased).
Contents
- 2 Debit and Credit Accounts and Their Balances
Debit and Credit Definitions
Business transactions are events that have a monetary impact on the financial statements of an organization. When accounting for these transactions, we record numbers in two accounts, where the debit column is on the left and the credit column is on the right.
A debit is an accounting entry that either increases an asset or expense account, or decreases a liability or equity account. It is positioned to the left in an accounting entry.
A credit is an accounting entry that either increases a liability or equity account, or decreases an asset or expense account. It is positioned to the right in an accounting entry.
Debit and Credit Usage
Whenever an accounting transaction is created, at least two accounts are always impacted, with a debit entry being recorded against one account and a credit entry being recorded against the other account. There is no upper limit to the number of accounts involved in a transaction - but the minimum is no less than two accounts. The totals of the debits and credits for any transaction must always equal each other, so that an accounting transaction is always said to be 'in balance.' If a transaction were not in balance, then it would not be possible to create financial statements. Thus, the use of debits and credits in a two-column transaction recording format is the most essential of all controls over accounting accuracy.
There can be considerable confusion about the inherent meaning of a debit or a credit. For example, if you debit a cash account, then this means that the amount of cash on hand increases. However, if you debit an accounts payable account, this means that the amount of accounts payable liability decreases. These differences arise because debits and credits have different impacts across several broad types of accounts, which are:
Asset accounts. A debit increases the balance and a credit decreases the balance.
Liability accounts. A debit decreases the balance and a credit increases the balance.
Equity accounts. A debit decreases the balance and a credit increases the balance.
The reason for this seeming reversal of the use of debits and credits is caused by the underlying accounting equation upon which the entire structure of accounting transactions are built, which is:
Assets = Liabilities + Equity Dock 3 0 9 mm.
Thus, in a sense, you can only have assets if you have paid for them with liabilities or equity, so you must have one in order to have the other. Consequently, if you create a transaction with a debit and a credit, you are usually increasing an asset while also increasing a liability or equity account (or vice versa). There are some exceptions, such as increasing one asset account while decreasing another asset account. If you are more concerned with accounts that appear on the income statement, then these additional rules apply:
Revenue accounts. A debit decreases the balance and a credit increases the balance.
Expense accounts. A debit increases the balance and a credit decreases the balance.
Gain accounts. A debit decreases the balance and a credit increases the balance.
Loss accounts. A debit increases the balance and a credit decreases the balance.
If you are really confused by these issues, then just remember that debits always go in the left column, and credits always go in the right column. There are no exceptions.
Debit and Credit Rules
The rules governing the use of debits and credits are as follows:
All accounts that normally contain a debit balance will increase in amount when a debit (left column) is added to them, and reduced when a credit (right column) is added to them. The types of accounts to which this rule applies are expenses, assets, and dividends.
All accounts that normally contain a credit balance will increase in amount when a credit (right column) is added to them, and reduced when a debit (left column) is added to them. The types of accounts to which this rule applies are liabilities, revenues, and equity.
The total amount of debits must equal the total amount of credits in a transaction. Otherwise, an accounting transaction is said to be unbalanced, and will not be accepted by the accounting software.
Debits and Credits in Common Accounting Transactions
The following bullet points note the use of debits and credits in the more common business transactions:
Sale for cash: Debit the cash account | Credit the revenue account
Sale on credit: Debit the accounts receivable account | Credit the revenue account
Receive cash in payment of an account receivable: Debit the cash account | Credit the accounts receivable account
Purchase supplies from supplier for cash: Debit the supplies expense account | Credit the cash account
Purchase supplies from supplier on credit: Debit the supplies expense account | Credit the accounts payable account
Purchase inventory from supplier for cash: Debit the inventory account | Credit the cash account
Purchase inventory from supplier on credit: Debit the inventory account | Credit the accounts payable account
Pay employees: Debit the wages expense and payroll tax accounts | Credit the cash account
Take out a loan: Debit cash account | Credit loans payable account
Repay a loan: Debit loans payable account | Credit cash account
Debit and Credit Examples
Arnold Corporation sells a product to a customer for $1,000 in cash. This results in revenue of $1,000 and cash of $1,000. Arnold must record an increase of the cash (asset) account with a debit, and an increase of the revenue account with a credit. The entry is:
| Debit | Credit |
| Cash | 1,000 |
| Revenue | 1,000 |
Arnold Corporation also buys a machine for $15,000 on credit. This results in an addition to the Machinery fixed assets account with a debit, and an increase in the accounts payable (liability) account with a credit. The entry is:
| Debit | Credit |
| Machinery - Fixed Assets | 15,000 |
| Accounts Payable | 15,000 |
Other Debit and Credit Issues
A debit is commonly abbreviated as dr. in an accounting transaction, while a credit is abbreviated as cr. in the transaction.
Debits and credits are not used in a single entry system. In this system, only a single notation is made of a transaction; it is usually an entry in a check book or cash journal, indicating the receipt or expenditure of cash. A single entry system is only designed to produce an income statement.
Related Courses
Accountants' Guidebook
Bookkeeper Education Bundle
Bookkeeping Guidebook
