What are the golden rules of accounting for the three types of accounts?

There are three types of accounts, each with its own golden rule. For Personal accounts (persons, firms, banks): debit the receiver, credit the giver. So if you pay cash to Ram, Ram is the receiver, so debit Ram. For Real accounts (assets like cash, machinery, furniture): debit what comes in, credit what goes out. If cash comes in, debit cash. For Nominal accounts (expenses, losses, incomes, gains like salary, rent, commission): debit all expenses and losses, credit all incomes and gains. So salary paid is an expense, hence debit salary. A quick trick: first identify the two accounts involved in a transaction, classify each one, then apply its rule. Practising 10-15 transactions makes this automatic.