Double-Entry Bookkeeping as a Directed Graph

Re:Double-Entry Bookkeeping as a Directed Graph by mrkeen on Wednesday April 10, 2024 @11:00AM (#39991462)

> Changing Debit/Credit to Incoming/Outgoing smacks of jargon and will cause confusion.

I disagree. Discussions like this on HN always invite someone to say "Look, it's super simple. Credits are just... and debits are just ...". Then a reply saying "You have it backwards. Look, it's simple! Credits are just..."

I would be perfectly happy to ditch those terms forever.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Double-Entry Bookkeeping as a Directed Graph by mrkeen on Wednesday April 10, 2024 @01:18PM (#39993237)

Plenty of downvotes, and yet, after writing this prediction, this thread is indeed filled with people all defining the terms 'Credit' and 'Debit' at one another. :D

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Double-Entry Bookkeeping as a Directed Graph by omichowdhury on Saturday April 13, 2024 @05:00AM (#40021641)

Yup I think it’s best to leave credits and debits behind. We can use more than 2 bits these days.

I think a far more intuitive system is use negative numbers with a symmetrical accounting equation:

  Assets - Liabilities = Income - Expense

Then you always think in terms of:

- Do I have more or less assets?

- Do I owe more or less liabilities?

- Did I make more of less profits?

- Did I make more or less losses?

You can then use the accounting equation to check your reasoning. I go more into it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40021375

[ Parent | on HN ]