On 10/21/23 11:38 AM, R Losey wrote:
On Fri, Oct 20, 2023 at 11:57 AM Michael or Penny Novack <
stepbystepf...@comcast.net> wrote:
On 10/20/2023 11:47 AM, Edwin Booth wrote:
Thank you Michael. The ancient history of these terms is really
interesting. I don’t really “get it” yet but I see the idea here. Very
hard to set aside the use of credit and debit in the modern sense and
use them in a very different way. Counter intuitive.
Not exactly. The confusion over "modern sense" is something else. Thus
when R. Losey says:
"It*IS* hard because the accounting use of debit/credit is different from
the common or colloquial usage of the words. In everyday usage, people tend
to use "debit" as a synonym for "decrease" and "credit" to mean "increase",
and that is NOT the case in accounting, as the tutorials helpfully
explain."
.... No, the confusion is NOT because accounting use is different but
confusion over whose books are you looking at. We are sued to seeing
these "in reverse" on statements we from from the bank for our bank
accounts or credit card accounts because on those it is from THEIR point
of view, not ours.
I disagree; I've heard people in non-financial situations use "debit" to
mean "decrease" and "credit" for "increase"; such as "His recent actions
have credited his stock of goodwill " or "he owes me; I have a huge credit
balance with him".
The key phrase is 'with him', which means 'in his books' thus from 'his'
perspective your 'account' has a credit.
But in *your* books, that same account would have a debit.
It IS a matter of perspective. The terms have consistent meanings.
But this is starting to get away from GnuCash.
It is more accounting than 'how to do it in GnuCash' but we get this
question often enough, it is worth addressing.
Regards,
Adrien
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