An asset is an item of property owned by a company/business. It may be for a longer or shorter period of time. Assets are classified into two broad heads: Non-Current Assets Current Assets The asset may be sold for several reasons such as: An asset is fully depreciated. It should be sold becaRead more
An asset is an item of property owned by a company/business. It may be for a longer or shorter period of time. Assets are classified into two broad heads:
- Non-Current Assets
- Current Assets
The asset may be sold for several reasons such as:
- An asset is fully depreciated.
- It should be sold because it is no longer needed.
- It is removed from the books due to unforeseen circumstances.
The journal entry for profit on the sale of assets will be:
| Cash / Bank A/c | Debit |
| To Asset A/c | Credit |
| To Profit on Sale of Asset A/c | Credit |
| (Being sale of an asset made with a gain) |
According to the golden rules of accounting, in the above entry “Cash/Bank A/c” it is a Real Account and the rule says “Debit what comes in” and so is debited.
“Asset A/c” is a real account and the rule says “Credit what goes out” and so is credited. Any Gain on sale of an asset goes to the Nominal account and according to the rule “Credit, all incomes and gains” and so is credited.
The journal entry for loss on sale of the asset will be:
| Cash / Bank A/c | Debit |
| Loss on Sale of Asset A/c | Debit |
| To Asset A/c | Credit |
| (Being sale of an asset made and loss incurred) |
In the above entry, “Loss on Sale of Asset” is debited because according to Nominal account rules “Debit all losses and expenses” and so is debited.
According to modern rules of accounting, “Debit entry” increases assets and expenses, and decreases liability and revenue, a “Credit entry” increases liability and revenue, and decreases assets and expenses.
| Cash / Bank A/c | Debit | Increases Asset |
| Loss on Sale of Asset A/c | Debit | Increases Expenses |
| To Asset A/c | Credit | Decreases Asset |
| To Profit on Sale of Asset A/c | Credit | Increases Expenses |
For example, Mr. A sold furniture for $2,500 and incurred a loss on the sale which amounted to $2,500.
According to modern rules, the journal entry will be:
| Particulars | Amt | Amt | |
| Cash / Bank A/c | 2,500 | Increase in asset | |
| Loss on Sale of Asset A/c | 2,500 | Increase in expenses | |
| To Asset A/c | 5,000 | Decrease in asset | |
| (Being sale of an asset made and loss incurred) |


The journal entry for Cash Sales is- Particulars Amount Amount Cash A/c Dr $$$ To Sales A/c $$$ Sales Account is a Revenue Account and Cash Account is an Asset Account for the business. So, According to the modern approach for Sales account:Read more
The journal entry for Cash Sales is-
Sales Account is a Revenue Account and Cash Account is an Asset Account for the business.
So, According to the modern approach for Sales account:
According to the Modern approach for Cash account:
So, the journal entry here is about cash sales and since there is an increase in Revenue on account of goods being sold, the sales account will be credited as per the modern rule and due to the increase in cash on account of sales, cash account will be debited.
For Example, Polard sold goods for cash worth Rs 2,000 for his business.
I will try to explain it with the help of steps.
Step 1: To identify the account heads.
In this transaction, two accounts are involved, i.e. Cash A/c and Sales A/c.
Step 2: To Classify the account heads.
According to the modern approach: Sales A/c is a Revenue account and Cash A/c is an Asset account.
Step 3: Application of Rules for Debit and Credit:
According to the modern approach: As Sales increases, because goods have been sold, ‘Sales A/c’ will be credited. (Rule – increase in Revenue is credited).
Cash account is an Asset account. As cash has been received on account of goods sold, there is an increase in assets and hence Cash account will be debited (Rule – increase in Asset is debited).
So from the above explanation, the Journal Entry will be-
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