Debit or Credit
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This question has bothered me for many years, only appearing now and again. I am looking for the authoritive answer as to what attribute do the values 'Debit' or 'Credit' describe. In other words, if I need a column to indicate whether a commission item is either a debit or a credit, what the column be called? I could call it 'DebitOrCredit', or IsDebit, or IsCredit, but I have a nagging suspicion that somewhere in an accountacy textbook, there is actually a real name for this. The closest I've come up with is Direction, and Polarity might also suffice. Please humour Brady the pedantic. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
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This question has bothered me for many years, only appearing now and again. I am looking for the authoritive answer as to what attribute do the values 'Debit' or 'Credit' describe. In other words, if I need a column to indicate whether a commission item is either a debit or a credit, what the column be called? I could call it 'DebitOrCredit', or IsDebit, or IsCredit, but I have a nagging suspicion that somewhere in an accountacy textbook, there is actually a real name for this. The closest I've come up with is Direction, and Polarity might also suffice. Please humour Brady the pedantic. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
you only have 1 column ?? in most of the trading I do EDI-wise with banks there are two columns, both a debit AND a credit amount are represented, and, they should be equal ;-) If I only have 1 amount, which is ambiguous ie debit/credit, I tend to think of it as 'sign', ie +ve, -ve, where its generally understood that +ve is credit and -ve is debit this probably doesnt help you much 'G'
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you only have 1 column ?? in most of the trading I do EDI-wise with banks there are two columns, both a debit AND a credit amount are represented, and, they should be equal ;-) If I only have 1 amount, which is ambiguous ie debit/credit, I tend to think of it as 'sign', ie +ve, -ve, where its generally understood that +ve is credit and -ve is debit this probably doesnt help you much 'G'
Yes, normally two amounts are stated, but in my experience they are very often not equal. Many debit transactions may be balanced by one credit entry, without dividing the credit amongst all the debits. However, in my case we are not doing real double entry accounting, only one side of it. Commission is either due to an agency, or the agency owes the commission to somebody. The contra enrty is outside the system scope. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
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Yes, normally two amounts are stated, but in my experience they are very often not equal. Many debit transactions may be balanced by one credit entry, without dividing the credit amongst all the debits. However, in my case we are not doing real double entry accounting, only one side of it. Commission is either due to an agency, or the agency owes the commission to somebody. The contra enrty is outside the system scope. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
ProffK wrote: we are not doing real double entry accounting, only one side of it. Then only show that side and what it is. ProffK wrote: Commission is either due to an agency, or the agency owes the commission to somebody. Sounds like your column is "Commission" to me. Next you have to be precise on what the + values mean and the - values. "Don't be so anti-american, would you? KaЯl (to Paul Watson on Baseball Bats) 26 Nov '03 "
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This question has bothered me for many years, only appearing now and again. I am looking for the authoritive answer as to what attribute do the values 'Debit' or 'Credit' describe. In other words, if I need a column to indicate whether a commission item is either a debit or a credit, what the column be called? I could call it 'DebitOrCredit', or IsDebit, or IsCredit, but I have a nagging suspicion that somewhere in an accountacy textbook, there is actually a real name for this. The closest I've come up with is Direction, and Polarity might also suffice. Please humour Brady the pedantic. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
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ProffK wrote: we are not doing real double entry accounting, only one side of it. Then only show that side and what it is. ProffK wrote: Commission is either due to an agency, or the agency owes the commission to somebody. Sounds like your column is "Commission" to me. Next you have to be precise on what the + values mean and the - values. "Don't be so anti-american, would you? KaЯl (to Paul Watson on Baseball Bats) 26 Nov '03 "
I will have no trouble chosing an attribute name, and that is more of a programming question anyway. I was asking a more academic question regarding the possible existence of a name for the attribute whose legal values are debit or credit. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
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This question has bothered me for many years, only appearing now and again. I am looking for the authoritive answer as to what attribute do the values 'Debit' or 'Credit' describe. In other words, if I need a column to indicate whether a commission item is either a debit or a credit, what the column be called? I could call it 'DebitOrCredit', or IsDebit, or IsCredit, but I have a nagging suspicion that somewhere in an accountacy textbook, there is actually a real name for this. The closest I've come up with is Direction, and Polarity might also suffice. Please humour Brady the pedantic. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
From Fundamental Accounting Principles, my trusted Uni Accounting Text: As previously stated, a T-Account (a ledger) has a left side and a right side. However, in accounting the left side is called the debit side, abbreviated "Dr."; and the right side is called the credit side, abbreviated "Cr." The words to debit and to credit should not be confused with to increase and to decrease. To debit simply means to enter an amount on the left side of an account. To credit means to enter an amount on the right side. Either may increase or decrease. I don't see any problem in modern computer software design to have a single column for the amounts you enter against an account. You could simply have the amount positive for debits, and negative for credits. The important thing to realize is that accounts have a "disposition" if you would, they either normally carry debit balances, like bank accounts (well we hope anyway), and Accounts Receivable (both these are assets), or accounts carry credit balances, such as loans, liabilities, and Owner's Equity normally do. For example: Writing a check for office supplies posts a credit to your bank account and a debit to your office supplies expense account. As bank accounts normally carry debit balances, the act of posting a credit to it reduces its balance. As Expense accounts are debit accounts, the act of posting a debit to it increases its balance. The point behind double entry accounting systems is to reduce error, and it's important to realize there is no other inherent meaning behind the terms used. HTH David
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This question has bothered me for many years, only appearing now and again. I am looking for the authoritive answer as to what attribute do the values 'Debit' or 'Credit' describe. In other words, if I need a column to indicate whether a commission item is either a debit or a credit, what the column be called? I could call it 'DebitOrCredit', or IsDebit, or IsCredit, but I have a nagging suspicion that somewhere in an accountacy textbook, there is actually a real name for this. The closest I've come up with is Direction, and Polarity might also suffice. Please humour Brady the pedantic. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
Assets are increased by Debits; liabilities are increased by Credits. If a commission is owed, it's a liability and therefore a credit entry is required. When it is paid, a cash asset is credited, and the liability is debited. Keep it simple, and make the column name "Type" with valid data values of "C" or "D". "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot." -
This question has bothered me for many years, only appearing now and again. I am looking for the authoritive answer as to what attribute do the values 'Debit' or 'Credit' describe. In other words, if I need a column to indicate whether a commission item is either a debit or a credit, what the column be called? I could call it 'DebitOrCredit', or IsDebit, or IsCredit, but I have a nagging suspicion that somewhere in an accountacy textbook, there is actually a real name for this. The closest I've come up with is Direction, and Polarity might also suffice. Please humour Brady the pedantic. Hallelucination - when you think you see God
With my bank statement, there is a Withdrawal column and a Deposit column (they are mutually exclusive as one transaction cannot have both). I don't see why you couldn't have both a Debit column and a Credit column.
Five birds are sitting on a fence. Three of them decide to fly off. How many are left?
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From Fundamental Accounting Principles, my trusted Uni Accounting Text: As previously stated, a T-Account (a ledger) has a left side and a right side. However, in accounting the left side is called the debit side, abbreviated "Dr."; and the right side is called the credit side, abbreviated "Cr." The words to debit and to credit should not be confused with to increase and to decrease. To debit simply means to enter an amount on the left side of an account. To credit means to enter an amount on the right side. Either may increase or decrease. I don't see any problem in modern computer software design to have a single column for the amounts you enter against an account. You could simply have the amount positive for debits, and negative for credits. The important thing to realize is that accounts have a "disposition" if you would, they either normally carry debit balances, like bank accounts (well we hope anyway), and Accounts Receivable (both these are assets), or accounts carry credit balances, such as loans, liabilities, and Owner's Equity normally do. For example: Writing a check for office supplies posts a credit to your bank account and a debit to your office supplies expense account. As bank accounts normally carry debit balances, the act of posting a credit to it reduces its balance. As Expense accounts are debit accounts, the act of posting a debit to it increases its balance. The point behind double entry accounting systems is to reduce error, and it's important to realize there is no other inherent meaning behind the terms used. HTH David
You would have come in handy when I had to learn all this stuff at Peachtree Software :) Cheers, Tom Archer Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. * Inside C# -Second Edition * Visual C++.NET Bible * Extending MFC Applications with the .NET Framework