In later generations, bank deposits, cash, and the general ledger were equivalent to three big trees, from which branches and leaves would spread according to various accounting subjects. The final root represented the outcome, which is to say, regardless of how accounting subjects changed, the final result was always balanced.
In ancient times, there were no banks, but there were banks equivalents, which served the same purpose. So in the bank accounts, there would be as many branches as there were bank equivalents. When money was deposited, it was recorded on the debit side; when money was withdrawn, it was recorded on the credit side. The final result had to match the actual amount of money in the account.
