Why is revenue considered a loss on the Debit side and a gain on the credit side?  I would first think that a revenue would be a gain on the debit side, not a loss?

Thanks

That's a good question, Jim. I'd guess it's a balance thing. Revenue such as sales happens either for cash or accounts receivable; since both of those have increases on the debit side, then the revenue has to have its increase on the credit side. Everything has to balance.

Speaking of which, I'd like to see what Professor Cram might have to say about this. (You want a fair and balanced answer, not my speculation!)

Rudy made a good start at answering your question, Jim. Understanding debits and credits is generally not intuitive.

Yes, Jim, Revenue is a good thing.  It is a gain to you. In fact, it is a credit to you, which is also a good thing. In the income statement side of things (which, maybe we should move up ahead of the balance sheet items in the presentation above) revenue coming in gives you a gain in the revenue  account which is marked as a credit. A debit to that account would take away from you. The problem comes with, having that concept firmly in hand (or head), the second entry in a double-entry system is an offsetting entry to keep the transaction in balance. It is still for a good thing, but it is in the other column. That good revenue credited income, and it has a debit effect to your balance sheet asset (cash or accounts receivable). Therefore debit is a good thing for assets. Those balance sheet accounts are opposite of the income statement accounts. If we didn't call them "debits and credits," but called them "left and right" entries it might be better for everybody. Unfortunately, they are what they are. The type of account determines whether a debit or a credit is a loss or gain. We thought it would be easier to learn if we showed them in tables. 

Debits on the left, credits on the right.