Altum Spectent

For all those of you who can't tell your debits from your credits, or otherwise have difficulty with accounting, hopefully this post will be able to help you out. We'll start with the basics, at the very beginning. Debits are placed in the left column; credits in the right. The three main classifications for accounting are Assets , Liabilities , and Stockholder's Equity , which all must be in balance in the Accounting Equation, where Assets (A) = Liabilities (L) + Stockholder's Equity (SE) . Stockholder's Equity can also be referred to as Owner's Equity (OE) ; generally the difference is referring to the type of company: corporation or sole proprietorship.  Debits increase regular assets; decrease regular liabilities; and decrease regular stockholder's equity. However, there are some times where this is not the case; for example, depreciation is a contra-asset  account, meaning it belongs with the assets, but it is decreasing, or against, the assets