[GNC] Default to Plain English instead of Debit and Credit

[R Losey]

Helpful, but I spent too much time away from the accounting world, and I've
gotten used to the more general usage of "credit" and "debit" words in
general English, where debit is used for "take away from" and 'credit' is
used for "add to".

Thus I used the simplified terms in GnuCash.

Here is the table in a mono-spaced font:


(an asterisk indicates a main account type)
* BALANCE    ACCCOUNT TYPE     DEBIT      CREDIT
   debit            NONE       Funds In   Funds Out
   debit            BANK       Deposit    Withdrawal
   debit            CASH       Receive    Spend
   debit            CREDIT     Payment    Charge
   credit           CREDIT     Payment    Charge
 * Debit            ASSET      Increase   Decrease
 * Credit           LIABILITY  Decrease   Increase
   debit            STOCK      Buy        Sell
   debit            MUTUAL     Buy        Sell
   debit            CURRENCY   Buy        Sell
 * Credit           INCOME     Charge     Income
 * Debit            EXPENSE    Expense    Rebate
 * Credit           PAYABLE    Payment    Bill
 * Debit            RECEIVABLE Invoice    Payment
   credit           TRADING    Decrease   Increase
 * Credit           EQUITY     Decrease   Increase




On Sat, Jul 1, 2023 at 10:00 AM Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:

> I understand your post is in the context of the importer - which is a
> whole different beast, but discerning the 'normal' balance of account
> types is not a mystery. It is dependent on their position in the
> Accounting Equation.
>
>
> Assets = Liabilities + Equity
>
> *adding in the special Equity type account of Retained Earnings yields:
>
>
> Assets = Liabilities + Equity + Retained Earnings
>
>
> Retained Earnings = Income - Expenses
>
>
> thus:
>
>
> Assets = Liabilities + Equity + Income - Expenses
>
>
> moving terms so all are 'positive':
>
>
> Assets + Expenses = Liabilities + Equity + Income
>
>
> and since:
>
>
> Debit = Credit, Left Side = Right Side
>
>
> therefore:
>
> Assets & Expenses are normally (when positive) Debit balanced accounts
> (left side), and Liabilities, Equity & Income are normally (when
> positive) Credit balanced accounts (right side).
>
> Gnucash treats the equation differently internally, so by default this
> is a bit different:
>
> Assets + Expenses - Liabilities - Equity - Income = 0
>
> thus:
>
> By *default* in Gnucash, Liabilities, Equity & Income normally show
> their Credit balances as negative numbers. (because their terms have
> been moved to the opposite, or left, side of the equation in the code)
> The 'Reversed Balanced Accounts' preference adjusts the *presentation*
> back to the original equation per your liking. Internally, these
> accounts remain negative when they have a credit balance.
>
> -----
>
> Your below chart looks correct except the one type I noted below:
>
> Regards,
> Adrien
>
> On 6/30/23 11:00 PM, flywire wrote:
> > Is it CR or DB? Who knows, toss a coin:
> > https://bugs.gnucash.org/show_bug.cgi?id=798964
> >
> > An interesting list of accounts adapted from a comment with an `*` next
> to
> > the main account types:
> >
> > * BALANCE ACCCOUNT TYPE       DEBIT    CREDIT
> >    debit            NONE       Funds In Funds Out
> >    debit            BANK       Deposit  Withdrawal
> >    debit            CASH       Receive  Spend
>
> -----
> >    debit            CREDIT     Payment  Charge
>       credit           CREDIT     Payment  Charge
> *A Credit Card type account is a Liability and thus normally has a
> Credit balance.
>
> -----
> > * Debit            ASSET      Increase Decrease
> > * Credit           LIABILITY  Decrease Increase
> >    debit            STOCK      Buy      Sell
> >    debit            MUTUAL     Buy      Sell
> >    debit            CURRENCY   Buy      Sell
> > * Credit           INCOME     Charge   Income
> > * Debit            EXPENSE    Expense  Rebate
> > * Credit           PAYABLE    Payment  Bill
> > * Debit            RECEIVABLE Invoice  Payment
> >    credit           TRADING    Decrease Increase
> > * Credit           EQUITY     Decrease Increase
>
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-- 
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8