I'm going through the GnuCash help files, and notice the following in section 2.2 of the Tutorial and Concepts guide (to which I'd like to suggest changes - see below):
Excellent.
================================================================ Accounting Terminology
Accountants use the terms debit and credit to describe whether money is being transferred to or from an account. Money is recorded in the debit column, which is always the left column, when it is being transferred to an account. Money is recorded in the credit column, which is always the right column, when it is being transferred from an account. Money always flows from the right column of one account to the left column of another account.
Yeah, that is really not very clear, is it.
====================================================================
Couple of things I would like to suggest changing:
The concept of "transferring money to" and "from" an account is somewhat vague. "Transferring money into" a revenue account, for example, means increasing that account balance - an entry on the RIGHT side of the ledger. It's probably less confusing to simply say that some types of accounts (like Assets and expenses) INCREASE when transactions are recorded on the left side, and other types (like equity and revenue) increase when transactions are recorded on the right side.
Here's what I would suggest for verbiage. Pick your own words, but something along these lines would be, IMHO, clearer - especially because some basic accounting concepts are previously covered in the manual:
======================================================= Accounting Terminology
One of the biggest roadblocks you'll have to overcome when learning accounting terminology is the use of the words debit and credit. To the average person, debit indicates a reduction in the money you have - like a debit on their credit card or bank account. And, likewise a credit indicates some type increase in the money they have, like of refund or income. But, in accounting, the terms debit and credit refer strictly to how a transaction gets recorded in any given account. It has nothing to do with "increasing and decreasing what you have", per-se.
There is another incorrect way to think about this, which is probably quite common. :(
A "credit" could be incorrectly (but logically) defined as something that increases the value of a single account. Conversely, a "debit" could be incorrectly (but logically) defined as something that decreases the value of a single account.
This is of course wrong because (for example) a paycheck deposit goes in the debit column of your savings account.
Accountants use the terms debit and credit to describe which side of the account ledger a transaction is recorded. When money is recorded on the left side of an account, the amount is a debit. Whenever money is recorded on the right side of an account, the amount is a credit.
Money is recorded in the debit column, which is always the left column, when it increases an asset or expense account. Money is recorded in the credit column, which is always the right column, when it increases any equity, liability, or income account.
(notice I address all five account types discussed in section 2.1.1)
After reading your text, which is clear, I must admit that I was still a bit confused. This is really bizarre stuff, why is it this way?
I found this web page... http://www.quickmba.com/accounting/fin/debits-credits/
...which explains *why* the accounting terms credit and debit are so different from what logic would dictate. Apparently, it is because accounting looks at things from the perspective of the bank.
Thus, money deposited into your personal savings account (an asset account from your perspective) goes in the debit column because the account is considered a liability from the bank's perspective. Wow.
Do we really want to get into all of this? I imagine this confusion is the reason why the "credit" and "debit" column of GnuCash have all been renamed (ie: renamed to "Deposit" and "Withdrawal" for a savings account).
-- -**-*-*---*-*---*-*---*-----*-*-----*---*-*---*-----*-----*-*-----*--- Jon Lapham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Personal: http://www.jandr.org/ ***-*--*----*-------*------------*--------------------*---------------
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