What is true about debits and credits?

Question

They always increase all accounts.

They always decrease all accounts.

They can be interchanged and substituted for each other; it does not matter which is used.

They are always on opposite sides of the T account.

Answer 1

In accounting, the following statement is true about debits and credits:

They are always on opposite sides of the T account.

To elaborate further:

• Debits are recorded on the left side of a T account, and they can increase asset and expense accounts while decreasing liability, equity, and revenue accounts.
• Credits are recorded on the right side of a T account, and they can increase liability, equity, and revenue accounts while decreasing asset and expense accounts.

Thus, they are not interchangeable or substitutable for each other, and they do not always increase or decrease all accounts uniformly.