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

Every day we make various purchases, pay for utilities. 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 machinery. Without knowing it, we face every day, even at a basic level, with the basics of accounting. In this case, the basic concepts that a person deals with are the terms "debit" and "credit". With the last definition, our compatriots are more or less familiar. But what is a debit is not all. Let's try to understand more with this term.

History of occurrence

The phrase "accounting debit" is often used in professional speech and the 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, let us turn to history. In modern Russian, a large number of borrowed words are used. One such term is "debit". He came to us from the German language. Although its origins take the word in the Roman Empire. Its original form is the definition of Debitum (Latin), which in translation means "duty". Its shorter form, debet, concretizes this concept and translates as "it should". It is noteworthy that in this word the prefix de stands out. Relying on Latin grammar, this short part means a decrease, a reduction. The second half of the term is translated as "estate" or "have". Combining the two components and getting what it means to "debit": "reduction of cash assets."

Similar terms

Let's make a comparison with the English language. In it, the word debt is almost identical to the term described. In translation to the great and mighty, this concept means "duty".

In addition, you can consider the question "what is a debit" and from a physical point of view. Thus, in French speech this word began to be used in the sense of "expenditure". A certain amount of resource (oil, gas, water), which gives the source for a certain period of time, is the debit. Note that the physical concept is written differently: through "and".

Financial Definition

Currently, the term "debit" is used quite often, especially when carrying out economic settlement activities. The modern meaning of this word is fully reflected in the ongoing banking operations. Under any conditions, when it is necessary to transfer funds from the customer's account, debiting takes place, that is, a write-off of money.

Let's consider an example. You decided to pay for the supplier's services for the delivered equipment. Under the terms of the contract, payment can be made by a bank check. The supplier goes to the bank and hands over the security to the competent person. You receive a message that the amount of "N" rubles was paid to the debit of the account belonging to you. That is, the funds were blocked for further write-off.

Accounting policy of organizations

What is a debit as an accounting concept? Each organization, regardless of the form of ownership and the purpose of its activities, is required to implement a strictly regulated accounting policy.

As a rule, this type of activity involves working with bilateral tables - accounts. Each of them has its own number and name. However, the whole group of accounts is united under the general concept of "Balance Sheet". The left side of the table is a "debit". Accounts in accounting count a huge amount. 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 actively passive. In the first category, the debit serves as a parish. For example, the receipt of materials to the warehouse from the supplier. In the organization's accounting, this entry (posting) will look like this:

In this case, the meaning of the concept of "debit" as "a reduction in what is available" refers to the opponent. That is, the availability of materials has decreased with the supplier. And the organization act as its debtor. For balance, it is necessary to pay for the transfer of materials according to the conditions prescribed in the contract.

The second option

In addition to active, debit can take the opposite position. This occurs when the account under which the transaction is performed is passive. Let's consider an example: the organization has taken a short-term loan for the sum of 10 thousand monetary units. To account for this receipt, the account of the operation is determined on the accounts of the organization. In this case, he is number 90 "Short-term loans and loans."

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

If an enterprise pays a loan, then the entry appears on the right side. For example: the organization took a short-term loan in the amount of 10,000 monetary units and contributed 1,000 monetary units to its repayment. Then the posting 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 specified amount). In turn, repaying the debt, the company performs one more function. She credits the financial institution (increases the availability of funds). Simultaneously with this process, the organization reduces its receivables. Balance means the remainder. The debit of the account for a certain period of time is calculated: month, quarter, year.

Conclusion

Summarize all of the above, we will conclude: what is a debit? The most important thing is the reception 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. The 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, the debit shows the reduction in the organization's money or its increased debt to third parties. As for active operations, the month is selected as the period.