What is a debit? Accounting debit. What does an account debit mean?

Every day we make various purchases, pay utility bills. Sometimes we visit exhibitions, restaurants and other entertainment venues. As a rule, we also get to work in most cases either by public transport or by our own car. That is, again, we pay for gasoline and the use of equipment. Without suspecting it, we are faced with the basics of accounting every day, even at a basic level . At the same time, the basic concepts with which a person deals are the terms “debit” and “credit”. Our compatriots are more or less familiar with the latter definition. But what is debit - not all represent. Let's try to understand this term in more detail.

History of occurrence

The phrase "accounting debit" is often used in the professional speech and activities of economists, businessmen, various financial organizations and financial institutions. In order to understand in more detail the nature of origin and the purpose of using this definition, we turn to history. In modern Russian, a huge number of borrowed words are used. One such term is debit. He came to us from German. Although it takes its roots in the Roman Empire. Its initial form is the definition of Debitum (Latin), which means “duty” in translation. A more concise form - debet - specifies this concept and translates as "it should." It is noteworthy that the prefix de stands out in this word. Based on the Latin grammar, this short part means reduction, reduction. The second half of the term is translated as “estate” or “have”. By combining the two components, it turns out what “debit” means: “reduction of cash property”.

Similar terms

Let's make a comparison with the English language. It contains the word debt almost identical to the described term. Translated into the great and mighty, this concept means "duty."

In addition, the question “what is debit” can also be considered from a physical point of view. So, in French speech, this word began to be used in the meaning of "expense". A certain amount of the resource (oil, gas, water) that the source gives for a certain period of time is the flow rate. Please note that the physical concept is written differently: through "and".

Financial definition

Currently, the term “debit” is used quite often, especially in the implementation of economic settlement actions. The modern meaning of this word is fully reflected in ongoing banking operations. Under any conditions, when it is necessary to transfer funds from the client’s account, a debit occurs, i.e., money is debited.

Consider an example. You have decided to pay the supplier for the equipment delivered. Under the terms of the contract, payment can be made by bank check. The supplier goes to the bank and gives the security to a competent person. You receive a message that the amount of "N" rubles has been deposited to the debit of the account that belongs to you. That is, the funds were blocked for further debiting.

Accounting policies of organizations

What is debit as an accounting concept? Each organization, regardless of the form of ownership and the purpose of its activities, is obliged to carry out strictly regulated accounting policies.

As a rule, this type of activity involves working with bilateral tables - accounts. Each of them has its own number and name. However, the entire group of accounts is united under the general concept of “balance sheet”. The left side of the table is a debit. There are a huge number of accounts in accounting. Moreover, depending on the type of organization, only certain of them are used.

Active Debit

Any account belongs to one of the three groups of the “Balance Sheet”. It can be active, passive or active-passive. In the first category, the debit acts as a receipt. For example, the receipt of materials at the warehouse from the supplier. In the organization’s accounting, this entry (posting) will look like this:

In this case, the meaning of the term “debit” as “reduction of what is available” refers to the opponent. That is, the availability of materials has decreased at the supplier. And the organization is his debtor. For balance, you must pay for the transfer of materials under the conditions prescribed in the contract.

Second option

In addition to the active, the debit may also occupy the opposite position. This occurs when the account at which the operation is carried out is passive. Consider an example: an organization took a short-term loan in the amount of 10 thousand monetary units. To account for this income to the organization’s accounts, the account for the operation is determined. In this case, it is the 90th issue of “Short-term loans and borrowings”.

The debit of the account reflects the cash flow and, in this case, we are more interested in, the increased debt of the organization to a financial institution.

If the company pays the loan, a record appears on the right side. For example: an organization took a short-term loan in the amount of 10 thousand monetary units and contributed 1,000 monetary units to its repayment account. Then the wiring will look like this:

That is, having received a loan from a bank, the company becomes its debtor (it reduced the bank’s property by the indicated amount). In turn, repaying debt, the company performs another function. She lends to a financial institution (increases the availability of cash). Simultaneously with this process, the organization reduces its receivables. Balance means balance. The debit of the account is calculated for a certain period of time: month, quarter, year.

Conclusion

Summarizing all of the above, we conclude: what is debit? The most important thing is the acceptance of an entry in the balance sheet of an organization. Debit of an active account means an increase in the number of received materials, cash and other valuables. Recording of these operations, as a rule, begins on the first day and ends on the last day of the reporting month. If the account is passive, then the debit shows a decrease in cash of the organization or its increased debt to third parties. As for active operations, a month is selected here as a period.