[GNC] Need help with a Savings account

[ToddAndMargo]

On 4/16/19 5:41 AM, Michael or Penny Novack wrote:
> On 4/15/2019 6:11 PM, ToddAndMargo via gnucash-user wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Now that I am feeling brave coming off of creating a charge
>> card account, I decided to create a saving account.
>>
>> My bank statement shows deposits as positive numbers and
>> withdrawals as negative numbers, so I decided to follow suite
>>
>> Okay, I set the initial test balance to +100.  It shows in
>> balance as 100.  All is well so far.
>>
>> Then I put 10 in the debit column of the account, meaning I
>> withdrew 10 from the account. 
> 
> STOP ---- ask yourself, are you trying to keep books from the point of 
> view of yourself of from the point of view of the bank?
> What is a positive for the bank is a negative for you and vice versa.
> 
> Increases to the account FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW are debits. Decreases 
> are credits. That is because the type of account FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW 
> is an asset. From the bank's point of view, it is a liability (they owe 
> you the money in your account) so this is reversed.
> 
> We cannot tell if you were right about that "all is well so far" unless 
> you tell us whether that was a $100 debit balance of a $100 credit balance.
> 
> Michael D Novack

Wonderful description!  Thank you!