[GNC] Credit and Debit Columns in Journal View

[Stan Brown (using GC 4.14)]

On 2024-06-25 12:10, rudy beuc wrote:
> So, I get my files all set up with my desired account structure. Here's
> the thing, in my checking account, my opening balance appears as a debt.
> In fact what should be the Credit and Debit Column as I've seen in other
> examples, appears to be reversely labeled. The Debit column is directly
> next to the cleared or not cleared column. If I enter a check into the
> checking account, it wants to appear as a credit.
> 
> What's going on, how do I fix this?

Nothing is "going on", and there's nothing to fix. Your checking account
is an asset to you, which means that its balance is normally a debit
(not "debt"). In transactions, a debit (such as a deposit) increases
your checking balance and a credit (such as writing a check) decreases
your checking balance.

Assets and expenses: debit increases balance, credit reduces balance
Liabilities, equity, and income: debit reduces balance, credit increases
balance

Your confusion may come from this: that very same checking account is a
liability to your bank. A credit increases the balance
_on_your_bank's_books_ and a debit decreases the balance.

Because of this, ordinary consumers are used to thinking that a credit
increases their checking account balance. And that's true -- on the
bank's books -- but it's exactly backwards on your own books.

Similar confusion reigns regarding credit cards. Your credit card
balance is a liability to you: buying something increases your balance
and is therefore a credit on your books; making a payment decreases your
balance and is therefore a debit on your books. (More completely: making
a payment, like every other transaction, has a debit side and a credit
side. The debit side is the reduction in your credit-card balance; the
credit side is the reduction in your checking account.)

Again, ordinary consumers are confused because banks describe things
from the banks' perspective. To them, your credit card account is an
asset: a debit increases the balance of that asset and a credit
decreases the balance. When you make a payment or return a purchase "for
credit", it is indeed a credit to that account on the bank's books, but
it is a debit to that account on your books.

Stan Brown
Tehachapi, CA, USA
https://BrownMath.com