r20024 - gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C - Bug #633586

[Yawar Amin]

Author: yawaramin
Date: 2011-01-02 10:39:32 -0500 (Sun, 02 Jan 2011)
New Revision: 20024
Trac: http://svn.gnucash.org/trac/changeset/20024

Modified:
   gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C/ch_accts.xml
   gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C/ch_basics.xml
Log:
Bug #633586

Move the explanation of debits and credits from §3.2.2 `Income and Expense
Accounts' into §2.1.3 `Double Entry', a more logical place. Get rid of
historical info (easy to look up online), error checking features info
(this isn't a sales pitch), and banks' reversed usage of debit and credit
terms (a digression, not really relevant at this point).

Modified: gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C/ch_accts.xml
===================================================================
--- gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C/ch_accts.xml	2011-01-01 21:04:31 UTC (rev 20023)
+++ gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C/ch_accts.xml	2011-01-02 15:39:32 UTC (rev 20024)
@@ -358,47 +358,6 @@
             </caption>
           </mediaobject>
         </screenshot>
-
-      <note> <!-- <sidebar> -->
-        <title>More on Debits and Credits</title>
-
-        <para>Remember the terms debit and credit discussed in 
-        <xref linkend="basics-accounting1"></xref>?
-        Contrary to popular belief and even some dictionary definitions,
-        accounting debits and credits do not mean decrease and increase. The
-        only constant definition of debits and credits is that debits are
-        left-column entries and credits are right-column entries. In fact,
-        debits and credits each increase certain types of accounts and
-        decrease others. In asset and expense type accounts, debits increase
-        the balance and credits decrease the balance. In liability, equity and
-        income type accounts, credits increase the balance and debits decrease
-        the balance.</para>
-
-        <para>For example, debits <emphasis>increase</emphasis> your bank
-        account balance and credits <emphasis>decrease</emphasis> your bank
-        account balance. Wait a minute, you might say, a
-        <emphasis>debit</emphasis> card <emphasis>decreases</emphasis> the
-        balance in my checking account, because I take money out of it. And
-        when the bank gives me money back on something, they
-        <emphasis>credit</emphasis> my account. So why is this reversed in
-        accounting?</para>
-
-        <para>Banks report transactions from <emphasis>their</emphasis>
-        perspective, not yours. Their perspective is exactly opposite to
-        yours. To you, your bank account represents an asset, something you
-        own. To the bank, your bank account represents a loan, or liability,
-        because they owe you that money. As explained in this chapter, asset
-        and liability accounts are exact opposites in the way they behave. In
-        a liability account, debits <emphasis>decrease</emphasis> the balance
-        and credits <emphasis>increase</emphasis> the balance.</para>
-
-        <para>When you take money out of your bank account, the balance in
-        your account decreases. To you, this is a decrease in an asset, so you
-        <emphasis>credit</emphasis> your bank account. To the bank, this is a
-        decrease in a liability, so they <emphasis>debit</emphasis> your bank
-        account.</para>
-      </note> <!-- </sidebar> -->
-      
     </sect2>
   </sect1>
 

Modified: gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C/ch_basics.xml
===================================================================
--- gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C/ch_basics.xml	2011-01-01 21:04:31 UTC (rev 20023)
+++ gnucash-docs/trunk/guide/C/ch_basics.xml	2011-01-02 15:39:32 UTC (rev 20024)
@@ -135,34 +135,26 @@
       concerned with at least 2 accounts, to keep the accounting equation
       balanced.</para>
 
-      <para>Double entry accounting serves two purposes. The first is to
-      create an accounting trail; money always has to come from somewhere and
-      go to somewhere. Additionally, double entry accounting historically
-      served to double check the math of an accountant. Because the numbers
-      are entered into multiple accounts simultaneously, there are multiple
-      places to check to make sure the totals match. Of course, with the
-      advent of computers, the chances of a mathematical problem are low, but
-      it is good to know that the concept still exists!</para>
+      <para>Balancing changes (or transfers of money) among accounts are
+      done by debiting one account and simultaneously crediting another.
+      Accounting <firstterm>debits</firstterm> and
+      <firstterm>credits</firstterm> do not mean <quote>decrease</quote>
+      and <quote>increase</quote>. Debits and credits each increase certain
+      types of accounts and decrease others. In asset and expense accounts,
+      debits increase the balance and credits decrease the balance. In
+      liability, equity and income accounts, credits increase the balance
+      and debits decrease the balance.</para>
 
-      <para>Double entry accounting has been around since the late 15th
-      century, when it was described by an Italian friar, Luca Pacioli.
-      Traditional double entry accounting involves recording each transaction
-      in a book called a ledger, then copying each part of the transaction to
-      separate books called journals. This method is still used in businesses
-      today as a way to avoid entry errors and to track the source of those
-      errors. <application>&app;</application> simplifies this traditional accounting by copying part
-      of each transaction for you, so it may not catch some of the entry
-      errors that would show up in traditional accounting. But it will flag
-      transactions that are not balanced, and it will let you know when an
-      account name is missing.</para>
+      <para>This accounting terminology can be confusing to new users,
+      which is why <application>&app;</application> allows you to use the
+      common terms <guilabel>Deposit</guilabel> and
+      <guilabel>Withdrawal</guilabel>. If you prefer the formal accounting
+      terms, you can change the account register column headings to use
+      them in the <guilabel>General</guilabel> tab under
+      <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel> (see the
+      <application>&app;</application> Help Manual for more information on
+      setting preferences).</para>
 
-      <note>
-        <para>Calling this double-entry bookkeeping is a bit misleading; it
-        would be somewhat more accurate to call it multiple- entry
-        bookkeeping, since a transaction can affect more than two accounts.
-        Unfortunately, there&rsquo;s 700 years of history of use of the term, which
-        sufficiently discourages changing it.</para>
-      </note>
     </sect2>
   </sect1>