Not inconsistent. It’s a matter of POV. Your mortgage is an asset from the bank’s POV, but a liability from your POV. Expenses come in and cash goes out. Debit

Not inconsistent. It’s a matter of POV. Your mortgage is an asset from the bank’s POV, but a liability from your POV. Expenses come in and cash goes out. Debit expense, credit cash. From an accountancy POV, the debits of a transaction equal the credits. From a software POV, the account changes total zero. There is a difference in what the word “balance” means.