FTB-C000703 / Financial concept

Debit and credit

Debit and credit name the two accounting sides used to record changes in accounts.

Also known asdebits and credits

Foundation 3 linked topicsEvidence-reviewed

Definitions

In plain terms

Which side increases an account depends on the account type; neither word universally means money in or money out.

Technical

D30 keeps positive amounts and an explicit side; a debit-positive fold adds debit amounts and subtracts credits.

Scope

A bank statement label and the account holder's books can reflect different perspectives.

Examples

  • Crediting a synthetic deposit liability increases the bank's obligation to its customer.

Common misconceptions

  • A credit is not universally a negative account balance.

Concept relationships

Related

Required by

Where this concept is used

Evidence and governance

  1. Accounting Concepts, GnuCash v5 GnuCash project · first party technical publication

    Supports: preferred label, short definition, variant distinction

    Limits: Software teaching documentation; not an accounting standard or banking compliance opinion.

  2. D30 glossary teaching-profile scope, Batch 013 The Fintech Builder · internal governed contract

    Supports: technical definition

    Limits: No independent regulatory mandate, real-bank dataset, service execution, external witness or production assurance is claimed.

Reviewed by
fintech-builder-batch-013
Last reviewed
2026-10-27
Next review
2027-10-27
Record status
evidence reviewed

This record is evidence-reviewed and readable, but not yet promoted to published — it is served noindex,follow and excluded from the sitemap.

Written by

Fintech engineer building market-data and financial systems, and the author of every article, glossary record, and reference implementation on The Fintech Builder.