Errors that double entry accounting reveals
This is a naive question but I'm trying to understand accounting.
I've read online that one of the purposes of double entry accounting is to allow checking for errors.
The only type of error that can be checked for that I see is when you enter different amounts in debit and credit or enter only one of them. Was it initially adopted because people wrote everything by hand so if they wrote an amount twice and made a mistake once then the double entry would reveal that? I don't see how this can be relevant today when everything is done electronically.
I know that it also somehow makes reporting easier but this is a different purpose.
Edit: In my understanding in the electronic accounting the error checking purpose is irrelevant because it will always match because it is checked at the time of entry. (So I suppose I'm asking from the user perspective.)
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In my understanding in the electronic accounting the error checking purpose is irrelevant because it will always match because it is checked at the time of entry.
As a professional programmer, I have to say that your trust in the perfection of software systems is misplaced. Software can and does contain bugs which allow incorrect data to be entered, or even actively cause corrupt data.
Another very important factor is errors that are not coincidence but deliberate, i.e. fraud and embezzlement.
Doubly-entry accounting makes it possible to find and correct wrong transactions retroactively. The important property is that in any transaction, you always know where the money came from.
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