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As you have learned, debits and credits are the basics of a journal entry. You will always debit at least one account, and credit the other. Most accounting systems assign numbers to each account that aid in organizing the list of accounts an entity uses. This is referred to as the chart of accounts.

Review the example below and see if you can figure out what account you would debit or credit if you wanted to book an entry to Accounts Payable.

Sample Chart of Accounts

This Chart is taken from the article listed below found here: https://www.accountingcoach.com/chart-of-accounts/explanation/2

Were you able to find the account number for Accounts Payable in the sample chart of accounts?

 It is #215. Congratulations!

Now that you understand the definitions, how would you go about creating a journal entry from start to finish? Continue to Section 3 - Creating a Journal Entry to learn more.