Are assets different to debits in bookkeeping?

Assets are things that are owned by the business.

The terms "Debit" and "Credit" only indicate what side of the ledger the columns are on -- Debits on the left and Credits on the right. All debit entries must have a corresponding credit entry and vice versa.

In the assets section of the Balance Sheet, debits represent increases and credits indicate decreases. In the Liabilities and Capital sections, credits indicate increases and debits indicate decreases.

A couple of examples:

Business buys an asset and pays cash. Debit the asset account and credit Cash.

Business buys an asset on credit, terms 30 days net. Debit the asset account and credit Accounts Payable. When the bill is paid, debit Accounts Payable and credit Cash.

Assets are fixed, the same assets are used for manufacturing activity year after year till they become obsolete. For example Machinery, Building, Vehicle etc. Debts are Current in nature, it should be recovered at the earliest. If it is not recovered within a short time, say within a year, they become bad debts and treated as loss. Debts are created by selling the product on credit , to improve the sales. Assets are used for manufacturing activity and Debts are tool to increase sales. Both are debited when increases and
Credited when decreases.

The extended accounting equation is.
Assets + Expenses + Drawings = Liabilities + Capital + Revenue

Debit means on the left hand side of the equation, credit means on the right side of the equation


Assets are on the left side so they are normally debits.

Assets are items of value you OWN.
Debits are amounts you OWE.