ChirronT447

My mother messaged yesterday "how do I get this thing to work".

Good to know it was actually broken

That's because people are trained into the system.

If you started teaching it another way, eventually that other way would be the norm.

Do they have it backwards? It sounds like a valid perspective to me. I take money from an ATM: the number in my current account decreases, the cash I have on hand increases. Nothing wrong there.

Sure the banks perspective is different but maybe I'm not interested in that.

I love that this thread is full of people confidentally saying something that sounds correct or at least reasonable and the first reply that comes back is no you've got that wrong and then what your saying also sound's reasonable but it just seems to depend on the context and perspective.

I would have thought accounting a solved problem but apparently not.

'Double-entry bookkeeping is very easy to understand once you ditch the ridiculous "credit" and "debit" terminology.'

I love it, let's do it!

Thank you this is very helpful.

The whole credit/debit terminology usage here is incredibly confusing to someone who hasn't studied accounting and many of the comments and replies to people who are confused are, while technically correct, simultaneously, unhelpful - to those not familiar with the terminology.

I read a comment earlier: "Why would my bank account be debited when the balance went up? Is a debit not negative? Is the cash balance presented as a negative?" And thought: "Yes! Great question! This doesn't make sense..because debits are always negative right? A direct debit takes money out, you spend money using a debit card, a debit is a debt right? So debits are always negative and debiting is always minus-ing money..." - but the replies, while technically correct weren't satisfying at all because they assumed knowledge.

It's both amusing and frustrating to watch people effectively speaking past each other like they're talking a different language. Especially when you have the same perspective as the person who is confused and trying to seek understanding. It seems like people nitpick on small points of what was said seemingly in order to be right.

I completely agree with this; I remember reading that prior thread on double entry accounting and being so frustrated and confused about the use of debit/credit terminology and then, as now, your comments (and others) were very very helpful and insightful.

Something I find frustrating is the - almost - endless debate and nitpicking on small details or elements implied but not explicitly stated...but I guess people are trying to be helpful (or right).

I didn't have an account to comment then but I really appreciated your perspective; it was extremely valuable seeing a few people saying 'forget about the credit/debit nomenclature, it's confusing' and recognising not everyone knows the terminology. Now I have an account here and can thank you for fighting the good fight again.

It's good to read there is consternation about the debits/credits nomenclature because I am definitely confused.

Interesting context on negative numbers, thanks for that!