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Why is debit written as DR in spite of the fact that no R appears in the spelling of debit?

Author

Andrew Campbell

Updated on December 30, 2025

Originally, “debits” did have a “bad” side. They were used to record the debts of the merchant or businessman. Debits were debtors. And the abbreviation for “debtor” is “Dr.”

What is the meaning of DR and CR in accounting?

DEBIT AND CREDIT CONVENTION As a matter of accounting convention, these equal and opposite entries are referred to as a debit (Dr) entry and a credit (Cr) entry. For every debit that is recorded, there must be an equal amount (or sum of amounts) entered as a credit.

What is Dr in journal entry?

In financial accounting or bookkeeping, “Dr” (Debit) indicates the left side of a ledger account and “Cr” (Credit) indicates the right. The rule that total debits equal total credits applies when all accounts are totaled.

What is GL posting?

General Ledger posting is the process of posting the Payroll results to the appropriate GL accounts including the cost centres Posting payroll results to Accounting is one of the subsequent activities performed after a successful payroll run.

Is debit good or bad?

Some people think credits are “good,” while debits are “bad.” Indeed, revenues could be considered to be good because they increase net income, while expenses could be bad because they decrease net income. Assets and Expenses are debit accounts. Liabilities, Owners’ Equity, and Revenues are credit accounts.

What does Dr mean on a debit card?

debit balance
DR – debit balance (overdrawn)

Which side is DR and CR?

In financial accounting or bookkeeping, “Dr” (Debit) indicates the left side of a ledger account and “Cr” (Credit) indicates the right.

What does T account mean?

A T-account is an informal term for a set of financial records that uses double-entry bookkeeping. The title of the account is then entered just above the top horizontal line, while underneath debits are listed on the left and credits are recorded on the right, separated by the vertical line of the letter T.

What is DR and CR amount?

An increase in liabilities or shareholders’ equity is a credit to the account, notated as “CR.” A decrease in liabilities is a debit, notated as “DR.” Using the double-entry method, bookkeepers enter each debit and credit in two places on a company’s balance sheet.

Why is the Dr written on the debit side?

One theory states that the DR and CR come from the Latin past participles of debitum and creditum which are “debere” and “credere”, respectively. Another theory is that DR stands for “debit record” and CR stands for “credit record”.Some even believe the DR notation is short for “debtor” and CR is short for “creditor”.

Why does Dr stand for debit and CR for credit?

Another theory is that DR stands for “debit record” and CR stands for “credit record”.Some even believe the DR notation is short for “debtor” and CR is short for “creditor”. Originally Answered: If cr is written on the credit side, it’s understandable, but why is it dr for debit?

Why is the bookkeeping abbreviation for debit’dr’?

Why is the bookkeeping abbreviation for debit ‘dr’? In the 500+ years of bookkeeping’s evolutionary history “Dr” was first used as an abbreviation for the personalised concept of “debtor” but has since morphed over the centuries into the convention of applying it to the abstract concept of “debit”.

What’s the meaning of the word Dr in accounting?

(Today, accountants and bookkeepers use the term debit, but five centuries ago in Italy, the term included the letter “r”.) In accounting and bookkeeping, debit or dr. indicates an entry on the left side of a general ledger account. Typically, the accounts for assets and expenses will have debit balances.