[freedomben]

Indeed, the dirty secret is that many accountants think of debit and credit as decrease and increase as well. After using the terms for a little while they switch the symbol (word) they think of, but it still retains the same meaning. They are basically synonymous.

source: friends and family members who are accountants and have generously given free bookkeeping tutorials

[fauigerzigerk]

>Indeed, the dirty secret is that many accountants think of debit and credit as decrease and increase as well.

So how would you correctly express the parent's example in terms of debit/credit if debit/credit are synonymous with decrease/increase?:

>>"Increase cash" by borrowing money is "increasing liability".

"Crediting cash by borrowing money is crediting liability" would sound obviously incorrect to any accountant.

[freedomben]

Passing on the answer I got:

> I wouldn't say "they are basically synonymous" because there are situations where they flip depending on the rules/approach that you are following. After working with it you get pretty familiar with these situations and don't really even translate anymore. It's important to remember though that there are books the way most people see them, and the way an accountant following GAAP sees them. "Increase" and "decrease" are quite helpful for most people the way most people see the books. If you are applying GAAP it's like working in a different language where words don't cleanly translate.

Given that we are mostly talking about double-entry in this thread, I think he is basically telling me I'm wrong but trying to explain how I came by it honestly so I don't feel stupid :-D

To quote the famous Bender from Futurama: "I’m so embarrassed. I wish everybody else was dead."