A journal entry records a transaction with at least one debit and one credit; the sum of debits equals the sum of credits.

• A. Debits must equal credits.
• B. Debits must exceed credits.
• C. The credit side may be empty.
• D. The debit side may be empty.

Answer: (A)

In double-entry accounting, every transaction requires debits and credits that balance, so the total amount recorded on the debit side must equal the total on the credit side. This balancing acts as a check that the books stay accurate and the accounting equation remains intact. For any valid journal entry with at least one debit and one credit, the numbers added on both sides must match, reflecting that value is conserved across accounts.

That’s why the best answer is that debits must equal credits. If the totals weren’t equal, the entry would be unbalanced, signaling an error in recording. For example, buying supplies with cash would debit Supplies and credit Cash for the same amount, keeping both sides equal.

The other options don’t fit because having the credit side or the debit side empty would create an unbalanced entry, and stating that debits must exceed credits would violate the fundamental balancing rule of double-entry bookkeeping.