Debitorsidan

Debitorsidan, or the debtor side, is a term used in Swedish double-entry bookkeeping to refer to the debit side of the accounts. It primarily contains asset accounts and expense accounts, which generally have debit balances. The counterpart is kreditsidan, the credit side, which holds liabilities, equity and revenue accounts that normally carry credit balances. The debitorsidan and kreditsidan together uphold the accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Equity.

In practice, the debitorsidan shows what the company owns or consumes. Common accounts on this side include cash and bank, accounts receivable (kundfordringar), inventories, tangible and intangible fixed assets, and prepayments, as well as expense-related accounts such as depreciation or other costs that increase the company’s expenditures. When a transaction increases an asset or an expense, a debit entry is posted on the debitorsidan. Conversely, decreases to assets or expenses are posted as credits on the kreditsidan or elsewhere, depending on the nature of the transaction.

The term is used to describe how transactions are recorded and analyzed: debits raise the balance on the debitorsidan, while credits raise the balance on the kreditsidan. This division helps users assess liquidity and resource use, as the debitorsidan reflects resources controlled by the company, and the kreditsidan reflects the sources of those resources.

Notes: debitorsidan is commonly referenced in Swedish accounting literature and kontoplanen (chart of accounts) discussions. It is distinct from but related to the concept of accounts receivable, which is one of the assets typically appearing on the debitorsidan.