Trial Balance Definition - Investopedia

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A trial balance is a bookkeeping worksheet in which the balance of all ledgers are compiled into debit and credit account column totals that are equal. CorporateFinance Accounting WhatIsaTrialBalance? Atrialbalanceisabookkeepingworksheetinwhichthebalanceofallledgersarecompiledintodebitandcreditaccountcolumntotalsthatareequal.Acompanypreparesatrialbalanceperiodically,usuallyattheendofeveryreportingperiod.Thegeneralpurposeofproducingatrialbalanceistoensuretheentriesinacompany'sbookkeepingsystemaremathematicallycorrect. 1:24 TrialBalance HowaTrialBalanceWorks Preparingatrialbalanceforacompanyservestodetectanymathematicalerrorsthathaveoccurredinthedouble-entryaccountingsystem.Ifthetotaldebitsequalthetotalcredits,thetrialbalanceisconsideredtobebalanced,andthereshouldbenomathematicalerrorsintheledgers.However,thisdoesnotmeantherearenoerrorsinacompany'saccountingsystem.Forexample,transactionsclassifiedimproperlyorthosesimplymissingfromthesystemcouldstillbematerialaccountingerrorsthatwouldnotbedetectedbythetrialbalanceprocedure. KeyTakeaways Atrialbalanceisaworksheetwithtwocolumns,onefordebitsandoneforcredits,thatensuresacompany’sbookkeepingismathematicallycorrect. Thedebitsandcreditsincludeallbusinesstransactionsforacompanyoveracertainperiod,includingthesumofsuchaccountsasassets,expenses,liabilities,andrevenues. Debitsandcreditsofatrialbalancebeingequalensuretherearenomathematicalerrors,buttherecouldstillbemistakesorerrorsintheaccountingsystems. RequirementsforaTrialBalance Companiesinitiallyrecordtheirbusinesstransactionsinbookkeepingaccountswithinthegeneralledger.Dependingonthekindsofbusinesstransactionsthathaveoccurred,accountsintheledgerscouldhavebeendebitedorcreditedduringagivenaccountingperiodbeforetheyareusedinatrialbalanceworksheet.Furthermore,someaccountsmayhavebeenusedtorecordmultiplebusinesstransactions.Asaresult,theendingbalanceofeachledgeraccountasshowninthetrialbalanceworksheetisthesumofalldebitsandcreditsthathavebeenenteredtothataccountbasedonallrelatedbusinesstransactions. Acompany’stransactionsarerecordedinageneralledgerandlatersummedtobeincludedinatrialbalance.  Attheendofanaccountingperiod,theaccountsofasset,expenseorlossshouldeachhaveadebitbalance,andtheaccountsofliability,equity,revenueorgainshouldeachhaveacreditbalance.However,certainaccountsoftheformertypemayhavealsobeencreditedandcertainaccountsofthelattertypemayhavealsobeendebitedduringtheaccountingperiodwhenrelatedbusinesstransactionsreducetheirrespectiveaccounts'debitandcreditbalances,anoppositeeffectonthoseaccounts'endingdebitorcreditbalances.Onatrialbalanceworksheet,allthedebitbalancesformtheleftcolumn,andallthecreditbalancesformtherightcolumn,withtheaccounttitlesplacedtothefarleftofthetwocolumns. SpecialConsiderations Afterall,theledgeraccountsandtheirbalancesarelistedonatrialbalanceworksheetintheirstandardformat,addupalldebitbalancesandcreditbalancesseparatelytoprovetheequalitybetweentotaldebitsandtotalcredits.Suchuniformityguaranteestherearenounequaldebitsandcreditsthathavebeenincorrectlyenteredduringthedouble-entryrecordingprocess.However,atrialbalancecannotdetectbookkeepingerrorsthatarenotsimplemathematicalmistakes.Ifequaldebitsandcreditsareenteredintothewrongaccounts,atransactionisnotrecordedoroffsettingerrorsaremadewithadebitandcreditatthesametime,atrialbalancewouldstillshowaperfectbalancebetweentotaldebitsandcredits. ArticleSources Investopediarequireswriterstouseprimarysourcestosupporttheirwork.Theseincludewhitepapers,governmentdata,originalreporting,andinterviewswithindustryexperts.Wealsoreferenceoriginalresearchfromotherreputablepublisherswhereappropriate.Youcanlearnmoreaboutthestandardswefollowinproducingaccurate,unbiasedcontentinour editorialpolicy. CorporateFinanceInstitute."TrialBalance." CompareAccounts AdvertiserDisclosure × TheoffersthatappearinthistablearefrompartnershipsfromwhichInvestopediareceivescompensation.Thiscompensationmayimpacthowandwherelistingsappear.Investopediadoesnotincludealloffersavailableinthemarketplace. Provider Name Description RelatedTerms HowGeneralLedgersWork Ageneralledgerisarecord-keepingsystemforacompany’sfinancialdata,withdebitandcreditaccountrecordsvalidatedbyatrialbalance. more AccountingCycle Theaccountingcyclerecordsandanalyzesaccountingeventsrelatedtoacompany'sactivities. more WhatIsReconciliationinAccounting? Reconciliationisanaccountingprocessthatcomparestwosetsofrecordstocheckthatfiguresarecorrect,andcanbeusedforpersonalorbusinessreconciliations. more AccountingError Anaccountingerrorisanerrorinanaccountingentrythatwasnotintentional,andwhenspottedisimmediatelyfixed. more WhatIsPettyCash? Pettycashisasmallamountofcashonhandusedforpayingexpensestoosmalltomeritwritingacheck.Learnhowtobalancepettycashinaccounting. more HowDoubleEntryWorks Doubleentryisanaccountingtermstatingthateveryfinancialtransactionhasequalandoppositeeffectsinatleasttwodifferentaccounts. more PartnerLinks RelatedArticles Accounting HowtoCalculateCreditandDebitBalancesinaGeneralLedger Accounting LearnAboutthe8ImportantStepsintheAccountingCycle Accounting TheDifferenceBetweenaGeneralLedgerandaGeneralJournal Accounting HowtoUseExcelasaGeneralAccountingLedger Accounting HowDidtheFieldofAccountingEvolve? Accounting WhyDoAccountantsUseDebit(DR)andCredit(CR)?



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