On Mon, 15 May 2000, Jon A. Christopher wrote:
> To my understanding, that's only true if you're using a double-entry
> ledger system. The statements I get from my bank, and from every credit
> card I've ever had use a debit to mean a charge...money going out of the
> account, and a credit for money flowing into an account. Thus the
> terminology "deposits and other credits", and "checks and other debits".
> I'm not an accountant, but I expect that the terms are still backwards.
The "problem" with credits/debits and bank statements is that it all depends
whose books they are.
When you deposit some money at the bank, you think of it as an asset. The
bank thinks of it as a liability (they have to pay it back).
Since most individuals don't keep books, they usually think of things
reversed because they think that the statement is theirs when it is actually
the banks.
