Did You Say Debit?
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Abstract
This paper, inspired by my seventeen years of teaching accounting, has a dual purpose: while questioning the relevance of some of the content of certain accounting textbooks, it also explores at length the concept of debit and credit, used as an example to illustrate the necessity to explain the underlying principles as opposed to merely emphasizing ‘how’ to apply accounting rules. In other words, questioning the validity of some textbooks’ excerpts with regard to ‘debit/credit’ becomes a pretext to reflect on it. Consideration of this concept requires taking a look at the history of negative numbers and at the origin of double entry bookkeeping. It will also make it clear that “while rules must be learnt, at some stage the reason for them must be made clear; if this is not done it has little educative value” (Russell, 1924, p. 164).
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