A5 DEBIT AND CREDIT
Having got this far in the book, then I believe that you will have understood the essential simplicity of financial concepts, and of accountancy, which is nothing more than the means whereby the application of those concepts is recorded. If so, you will have done so without any mention of the terms ‘debit’ and ‘credit’. However, you might be interested in how those terms came about.
It happens that in many countries, statements of financial position are today usually set out as described in the early chapters of this book. Assets are shown at the top, liabilities at the bottom, and this is sometimes referred to as the ‘vertical format’. However, in former times, when accounting was done by hand rather than by computer, and ...
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