What a debit actually is
If the only place you have seen the word is a bank statement, you think a debit is money leaving. That is the single belief that makes double-entry bookkeeping impossible to learn, because it is not what the word means.
Debit is a side, not a direction
Debit means the left column. Credit means the right column. That is the whole definition, and it is why the word tells you nothing about whether money came or went until you know which account you are looking at.
Every transaction puts the same total in both columns. That is the rule the whole system is built on: if the two sides do not match, something is missing, and the books say so instead of quietly being wrong.
What each side does to an account
There are five kinds of account, and the side that increases each one is fixed.
| Kind of account | A debit | A credit |
|---|---|---|
| Assets (checking, equipment, money owed to you) | increases | decreases |
| Liabilities (cards, loans, money you owe) | decreases | increases |
| Equity (what the business is worth to you) | decreases | increases |
| Income | decreases | increases |
| Expenses | increases | decreases |
Money arriving in checking is a debit, because checking is an asset and a debit increases an asset. Paying your phone bill is also a debit, to the phone expense account. Both are debits and the money went opposite directions, which is exactly why "debit means money out" cannot be right.
Why your bank statement says the opposite
This is the part nobody explains, and it is the reason the word feels backwards.
Your checking account is an asset on your books. It is money you have, so a debit increases it.
Your bank keeps its own books, and on those, your account is a liability. It is money the bank owes you. A credit increases a liability, so your deposit is a credit on the bank's ledger.
When the bank takes $60 out to pay your phone, the bank records that as a debit, because it now owes you $60 less. Same event, two different sets of books, and each one uses the word correctly from where it is standing. Your statement is written from the bank's side of the table, not yours.
You do not need this to keep books
None of this is required to use DoubleBooks. You can record where money came from and where it went and never see the word, which is what how the two views work is about.
It is worth 5 minutes anyway, for the day an accountant says "credit the income account" and you would rather know what they mean than nod.