Actually, in my accounting book ("Principles of Accounting" by Needles,
Anderson and Caldwell) the balance sheet and trial balance both have the
same format. It actually has a debit and credit column and shows the
account balance as positive always.
You can do it however you want and I can make it work - mainly I want
somewhere to track transactions, even if the signs are peculiar. It would
be nice, though, if the tool followed typical accounting conventions.
Rob Coker
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christopher Browne [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 1999 8:08 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: standard terms + philosophy + RE: equity accounts
>
>
> On Tue, 23 Nov 1999 04:50:14 CST, the world broke into rejoicing as
> "Rob Coker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
> > Actually, an accountant does not expect liabilities to appear
> negative, but
> > positive. Accounting (at least in US) follows the principle:
> >
> > Assets = Liabilities + Capital(Equity)
>
> That identity holds in financial statements, and particularly on one
> section, namely the Balance Sheet.
>
> What usually happens is that:
> -- Assets wind up having "debit" balances, which "appears positive;"
> -- Liabilities wind up having "credit" balances, which "appears
> negative;"
> -- Profitable enterprises have equity accounts with net
> "credit" balances,
> which "appears negative."
>
> >From the Trial Balance Point Of View, that turns into a perspective
> where everything adds to 0.
>
> The Balance Sheet Point Of View puts the items expected to have debit
> balances into the "Assets" section, and puts the items expected to have
> credit balances into the "Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity" section,
> effectively changing the sign of the latter section.
>
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