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Sure, but that just means they're creating a product for a specific market -- one whose area of expertise isn't accounting or finance. This is something we shou

Sure, but that just means they're creating a product for a specific market -- one whose area of expertise isn't accounting or finance. This is something we should encourage, rather than nitpicking the wording.

stevievee 8y ago
I am not nitpicking at all. All of the things the author said are "mumbo jumbo" are fundamental to keeping proper books. Proper bookkeeping is also regulated so it is not just my opinion.
- chris_wot 8y ago
  Agreed. If you haven't spent the time to understand what debits and credits are in a double-entry book keeping system, then you really shouldn't be trying to do accounting.
  - kungtotte 8y ago
    There's a large use case for simple personal bookkeeping that doesn't require double-entry accounting. Most people have some fixed recurring bills (insurance, rent, subscriptions, etc.), some variable recurring bills (utilities, etc.), standing payments like savings, and monthly spends like groceries. For them (myself included) something that lets you simply input recurring expenses and your income and show a running tally is pretty much all that's needed, add some simple transaction tracking and you're there. Basically all you really want is two things: 1) Given $2000 at payday, how much of that is available to spend if $X is going towards known expenses. 2) The day before payday I have $Y left in my account. Where did I spend the $2000-$X?
    - chris_wot 8y ago
      Which means you have to take out money from one account and transfer it into another. Which means that you need to understand that you must debit an expense as it decreases the owners equity credit balance, and then you must understand that it causes a credit on your bank account. If you don't have this, then you won't be able to work out where you spent your $X amount of money.
      - kungtotte 8y ago
        I don't need to understand any of that for simple personal finance. A transaction with a negative amount with a to and from field is all that I need. If I see 15 bucks each month going to "Spotify" I don't have to be a CPA to work out that I spend 15 bucks a month for Spotify...
        chris_wot 8y ago
        Which is an expense, and it takes money out of your bank account and into the Spotify expense account. You have just understood it, intuitively.
gamblor956 8y ago
Those are extremely basic financial terms. If you (meaning the generic you, not you specifically) can't understand them you really shouldn't be doing your own accounting. It would be like creating a niche programming IDE for people who don't understand the term "computer" or "programming" or "code."
- adius 8y ago
  And that's exactly what e.g. Zapier and Airtable Blocks do ... and quite successfully so. In specialized communities there is a lot of gatekeeping just by their slang. If I can explain something in plain english without using numerous technical terms, I've mastered the first hurdle to make it more accessible.
  - gamblor956 8y ago
    A cursory view of their homepages reveals a large amount of tech "lingo" that require a fair amount of computer savvy, so nothing at all like what I'm describing.

stevievee 8y ago

I am not nitpicking at all. All of the things the author said are "mumbo jumbo" are fundamental to keeping proper books. Proper bookkeeping is also regulated so it is not just my opinion.

chris_wot 8y ago
Agreed. If you haven't spent the time to understand what debits and credits are in a double-entry book keeping system, then you really shouldn't be trying to do accounting.
- kungtotte 8y ago
  There's a large use case for simple personal bookkeeping that doesn't require double-entry accounting. Most people have some fixed recurring bills (insurance, rent, subscriptions, etc.), some variable recurring bills (utilities, etc.), standing payments like savings, and monthly spends like groceries. For them (myself included) something that lets you simply input recurring expenses and your income and show a running tally is pretty much all that's needed, add some simple transaction tracking and you're there. Basically all you really want is two things: 1) Given $2000 at payday, how much of that is available to spend if $X is going towards known expenses. 2) The day before payday I have $Y left in my account. Where did I spend the $2000-$X?
  - chris_wot 8y ago
    Which means you have to take out money from one account and transfer it into another. Which means that you need to understand that you must debit an expense as it decreases the owners equity credit balance, and then you must understand that it causes a credit on your bank account. If you don't have this, then you won't be able to work out where you spent your $X amount of money.
    - kungtotte 8y ago
      I don't need to understand any of that for simple personal finance. A transaction with a negative amount with a to and from field is all that I need. If I see 15 bucks each month going to "Spotify" I don't have to be a CPA to work out that I spend 15 bucks a month for Spotify...
      - chris_wot 8y ago
        Which is an expense, and it takes money out of your bank account and into the Spotify expense account. You have just understood it, intuitively.

gamblor956 8y ago

Those are extremely basic financial terms. If you (meaning the generic you, not you specifically) can't understand them you really shouldn't be doing your own accounting. It would be like creating a niche programming IDE for people who don't understand the term "computer" or "programming" or "code."

adius 8y ago
And that's exactly what e.g. Zapier and Airtable Blocks do ... and quite successfully so. In specialized communities there is a lot of gatekeeping just by their slang. If I can explain something in plain english without using numerous technical terms, I've mastered the first hurdle to make it more accessible.
- gamblor956 8y ago
  A cursory view of their homepages reveals a large amount of tech "lingo" that require a fair amount of computer savvy, so nothing at all like what I'm describing.