A debit is money you owe, and a credit is money coming to you. The debit section highlights items that are part of the total dollar amount owed at closing. This includes the amount due for closing and title costs, which are generally split between the buyer and the seller. Debits and credits are terms used by bookkeepers and accountants when recording transactions in the accounting records. The amount in every transaction must be entered in one account as a debit (left side of the account) and in another account as a credit (right side of the account).
A debit is the opposite of a credit. A debit may be an account entry representing money you owe a lender or money that has been taken from your account.
For example, your bank debits your checking account for the amount of a check you've written, and your broker debits your investment account for the cost of a security you've purchased.
Similarly, a debit card authorizes the bank to take money out of your bank account electronically, either as cash or as an on-the-spot payment to a merchant. That's different from a credit card, which authorizes you to borrow the money from the card issuer.
Definition: A debit is an accounting term for an entry made on the left side of an account. Checkbook pro 2 6 13 17. Many times debit is abbreviated as Dr.The double entry accounting system is based on the concept that total debits always equal total credits.
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What Does Debit Mean in Accounting?
A debit does not mean an increase or decrease in an account. Many accounting students make this mistake. A debit is always an entry on the left side of an account. Depending on the account, a debit can increase or decrease the account. Accounts that have debit or left balances include assets, expenses, and some equity accounts. This means that a debit recorded in an asset account would increase the asset account.
Conversely, liabilities and revenue accounts have credit or right balances. A debit recorded in a revenue account would decrease the revenue account.
Example
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Take this T-account of the cash account for example. Cash is an asset; so all debits would increase the asset account. The credits in the T-account decrease the balance in the cash account. This cash account has a debit for $3,000 and a credit for $1,000. This gives the cash account a debit balance of $2,000. In other words, this company has $2,000 in its checking account right now.
If the company had a credit of $4,000 instead of the credit for $1,000, the company would have a credit balance in its cash account of $1,000. This means the company over drafted its checking account by $1,000.