Accounting Basics

A small primer to get you up to speed on the concepts of accounting.

Let’s understand the concept of accounting with the example of an imaginary business that is just starting out.

Owner Investment: Let’s say we’re starting a Home Interior business and we have TZS 5,000,000 of capital to start our business.

Bank balance will initially be TZS 5,000,000.

First Expense: We will need an operating place where we can work and meet clients. For this, we rent out a co-working space for TZS 400,000 per month. This is our first expense.

Bank balance will now be TZS 5,000,000 – TZS 400,000 = TZS 4,600,000.

First Income: We have invested some cash, and we have a working place. Now we make our first sale having a value of TZS 300,000. We earned TZS 300,000 from our first customer. This is our first income.

Bank balance at this point will be TZS 4,600,000 + TZS 300,000 = TZS 4,900,000.

Accounts Payable: Finally, Let’s say we decided to hire a Web Agency to build a website for us, they charge TZS 500,000 which will be paid after 2 months from current date.

At this point we haven’t paid them any money, but we are liable to pay them in the future. This is a liability and will be recorded under Accounts Payable.

Events and Accounts

Let’s list these events down in a table:

| # | Event | Amount | | --- | ---------------- | --------------- | | 1 | Owner Investment | + TZS 5,000,000 | | 2 | Rent | - TZS 400,000 | | 3 | Sales | + TZS 300,000 | | 4 | Accounts Payable | - TZS 500,000 | | 5 | Total | TZS 4,400,000 |

Now, let’s categorize these into the five types of Accounts and list their final balances:

| # | Account | Amount | | --- | ------------------------------ | ------------- | | 1 | Asset (Bank) | TZS 4,90,000 | | 2 | Liabilities (Accounts Payable) | TZS 500,000 | | 3 | Equity (Owner Investment) | TZS 5,000,000 | | 4 | Income (Sales) | TZS 300,000 | | 5 | Expense (Rent) | TZS 400,000 |

Impact on Accounts

Let’s take a look at each transaction and understand which accounts will get affected, from an accounting point-of-view:

1. Cash Investment

Since you, the owner, invested money into the business, it is a liability. So, Accounts Payable, which is a Liability account, is increased by TZS 5,000,000.

Also, the money in the Bank Account, which is an Asset account, is increased by TZS 5,000,000.

| Account | Credit | Debit | | ---------------- | ------------- | ------------- | | Accounts Payable | TZS 5,000,000 | 0 | | Bank Account | 0 | TZS 5,000,000 |

2. Rent

Rent is an immediate expense, so it is recorded in the Rent Account, which is an Expense account, it is increased by TZS 400,000.

Also, the money is spent from the Bank Account, which is an Asset account, it is decreased by TZS 400,000.

| Account | Credit | Debit | | ------------ | ----------- | ----------- | | Rent Account | 0 | TZS 400,000 | | Bank Account | TZS 400,000 | 0 |

3. First Sale

We got an immediate payment, it is recorded in Sales Account, which is an Income account, the balance is increased by TZS 300,000.

Also, we received the money in our Bank Account directly, so it’s balance increases by TZS 300,000.

| Account | Credit | Debit | | -------------- | ----------- | ----------- | | Income Account | TZS 300,000 | 0 | | Bank Account | 0 | TZS 300,000 |

4. Hiring a Web Agency

We hired a Web Agency for some work, and we are liable to pay them in the future. This is recorded in Accounts Payable by increasing the amount by TZS 500,000.

Since this is an expense for us, we also increase the balance in the Vendor Expense Account by TZS 500,000.

| Account | Credit | Debit | | ---------------- | ----------- | ----------- | | Accounts Payable | TZS 500,000 | 0 | | Expense Account | 0 | TZS 500,000 |

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As you might have noticed, every transaction we do in our business affects two accounts. This is the basis of double-entry bookkeeping system.

You can test this out by creating a Sales Invoice in Rarebooks, and then check the General Ledger Report to see which accounts were affected…

Credit and Debit

The words Credit and Debit mean different things when applied to different accounts.

• For Assets and Expense accounts Credit implies a decrease in balance and Debit implies an increase in balance.
• For Liabilities and Income accounts Credit implies an increase in balance and Debit implies and decrease in balance.

::: tip AEDLIC You can remember this by the abbreviation AEDLIC which would stand for:

Assets and Expenses Debit, Liabilities and Income Credit :::