SINGLE AND DOUBLE ENTRY

Credits will increase a liability account but decrease an asset account. In practice, using a double-entry accounting system quickly becomes second nature. Bookkeepers become fluent in the language very quickly and begin to think in terms of T- accounts, which are visual representations of accounts listing debits on the left and credits on the right.

The double entry accounting method is based on this concept of duality. Chart Of AccountsA chart of accounts lists all the general ledger accounts that an organization uses to organize its financial transactions systematically. Every account in the chart holds a number to facilitate its identification in the ledger while reading the financial statements. The accounting cycle begins with transactions and ends with completed financial statements. The journal is a chronological list of each accounting transaction and includes at a minimum the date, the accounts affected, and the amounts to be debited and credited. To understand how double-entry bookkeeping works, let’s go over a simple example to solidify our understanding. Assume that Alpha Company buys $5,000 worth of furniture for its office and pays immediately in cash.

What Is the Essential Point of the Double-Entry System of Accounting for Every Transaction?

Double-entry Book-Keeping is a system by which every debit entry is balanced by an equal credit entry. You invested $15,000 of your personal money to start your catering business. When you deposit $15,000 into your checking account, your cash increases by $15,000, and your equity increases by $15,000. The first case denotes a debit record and a corresponding credit, indicating a net effect, which comes to zero.

If you are a person who pays great attention to details without leaving anything out of sight, then your accounting method would mean double entry accounting a lot. Double-entry provides a more complete, three-dimensional view of your finances than the single-entry method ever could.

Examples of Double-Entry Accounting

The closest example of this basic accounting is the bank account ledger you use to keep track of your spending. While this may have been sufficient in the beginning, if you plan on growing your business, you should probably move to using accounting software and double-entry accounting. If you’re a freelancer, sole entrepreneur, or contractor, chances are you’ve been using single-entry accounting, especially if you aren’t using accounting software. Unlike single-entry accounting, which requires only that you post a transaction into a ledger, double-entry tracks both sides of each transaction you enter. Credits add money to accounts, while debits withdraw money from accounts. Double-entry accounting also serves as the most efficient way for a company to monitor its financial growth, especially as the scale of business grows. In a small business organization, daily shopping, a cultural ceremony, the application of a single entry system of accounting is more popular and advantageous than the double-entry system.