You should expense the equipment out as an asset and the other side of the JE will be the liability account (creating the beginig balance). The tradein value will not be part of the final journal entry but needs to be entered as a credit to balance the entry based on the limited info you provided.When you first purchase new equipment, you need to debit the specific equipment (ie, asset) account. And, credit the account you pay for the asset from. Accounting standards and be clearly set forth in the acquisition agreement.