Here are some rules of thumb.

Assets always equal Liabilities plus owners Equity.
Debit means left
Credit means right

Asset,Expenses are normally a debit
Liabilities,O/E,Income are normally a credit.

Debits ALWAYS equal Credits

This means that if you are posing income than a positive number is a credit a negative number is a debit.
Just the opposite for expenses.

When posting income you need to know where the offsetting debit goes. If case sale then the cash account in the asset group. Charge sale will go into accounts receivable as an asset

When posting expenses then the offsetting credit is either accounts payable or cash.

As far as books are concerned, you need more theory than actual how to keep books for a company.

Hope this helps you get started.


>>>Itsbeeen a long time since I took accounting in college.
>>>
>>>I'm looking for an easy book that will help gain a better understanding of accounting in preparation for writing an accounting component for an app I'm working on. I don't need a CPA level book. Just something that will get me up to speed on journal entries, basic reports, and the like.
>>>
>>>Can anyone recommend a decent book?
>>
>>http://www.amazon.com/Accounting-Dummies-John-Tracy/dp/0764550144
>>
>>and this website might help
>>
>>http://www.wannalearn.com/Business_and_Careers/Accounting/
>
>I checked out te reviews for the Dummies book. Alot of them said things like "If you are a small business and want to learn how to "keep the books," this book isn't for you".
>
>It seems to be more of a concepts book.
>
>Like I said, I need to learn how to have my app write out accounting entries.