debiter

Debiter is a term used in accounting to denote the party to whom a debit entry is posted in a financial transaction. In double-entry bookkeeping, every transaction affects at least two accounts: one debited and one credited. The debiter is the entity whose account is debited, which typically reflects an increase in assets or expenses, or a decrease in liabilities, equity, or revenue, depending on the nature of the transaction. The opposite side is called the creditor.

The term is more common in some languages and in technical accounting contexts; in English, "debtor" is the more usual word for the party that owes money, while "debited" refers to the action of posting a debit to an account rather than identifying a party. The debiter and the debtor can be the same entity in many transactions, but they describe different ideas: debiter refers to the accounting entry, whereas debtor describes the legal obligation to pay.

Examples help illustrate the concept. If a business purchases equipment on credit, the business is the debiter because it debits the Equipment asset account and credits the Accounts Payable liability. If a customer is billed for services, the seller debits Accounts Receivable (an asset) and credits Revenue; in the buyer’s books, the buyer would typically credit cash or accounts payable, and the concept of the debiter still refers to the party whose account receives the debit entry.

See also: Debits and credits, Debit, Credit, Debtor, Accounts payable, Accounts receivable.