Double-entry bookkeeping
Recording every money movement as matching debits and credits that must balance, so an error shows up instead of hiding in one account.
Updated October 2026 · with examples from our own builds
What does double-entry bookkeeping mean in practice?
In double-entry, money never appears or vanishes. A sale debits the customer and credits the provider and the platform; a refund does the reverse. Every entry has two or more sides that sum to zero, and a system built on it can refuse any entry that doesn't.
Marketplace money becomes trustworthy this way. Mistakes are caught at the moment they are written, and the records map directly onto the books your accountant keeps, which makes exports to accounting software straightforward.
Every money feature gets slightly more work, and tracing a problem gets a great deal easier.
Double-entry bookkeeping at a glance
- Core rule
- Each entry's sides sum to zero
- Catches
- Errors at the moment they are written
- Fits with
- Accounting exports such as Tally
Where has double-entry bookkeeping come up in our builds?
Every money movement posts a double-entry journal entry, and one whose debits and credits differ can't be saved. Entries are append-only, corrected by reversal and exported as Tally XML.
The marketplace sits on an append-only, double-entry ledger in integer minor units, tested across currencies with zero, two and three decimal places and running in shadow until live money flows.
Common questions about double-entry bookkeeping
Is double-entry overkill for an early-stage app?
Not if money moves between more than two parties, as it does in any marketplace. It costs little to build in and is very hard to add once single-sided records have piled up.
Does double-entry mean my developers need to be accountants?
No. They need the rule that every entry balances and a few account types agreed with your accountant; the system then enforces the rule on every write.
Related terms
Planning a product and not sure where double-entry bookkeeping fits? Ask us, or browse all 116 terms in the glossary.