double-entry bookkeeping investment & finance definition

An account-
ing system that requires two entries, a debit and a credit, for each transaction, so that they equal each other. It is the standard bookkeeping method today. Debit entries increase assets while they reduce liabilities and stockholders’ equity. Credit entries decrease assets while increasing liabilities and stockholders’ equity. Double-entry bookkeeping began during the Renais-sance: One of its first written descriptions appeared in 1494 in a math book written by Fra Luca Pacioli.