Trial Balance - Example | Format | How to Prepare Template
文章推薦指數: 80 %
The trial balance format is easy to read because of its clean layout. It typically has four columns with the following descriptions: account number, name, ... Skiptocontent Menu Home»FinancialAccountingBasics»TrialBalance WhatisaTrialBalance? Atrialbalancesheetisareportthatliststheendingbalancesofeachaccountinthechartofaccountsinbalancesheetorder.BookkeepersandaccountantsusethisreporttoconsolidatealloftheT-accountsintoonedocumentanddoublecheckthatall transactions wererecordedin properjournalentryformat. Bookkeeperstypicallyscantheyear-endtrialbalanceforpostingerrorstoensurethattheproperaccountsweredebitedandcreditedwhilepostingjournalentries.Internalaccountants,ontheotherhand,tendtolookatglobaltrendsofeachaccount.Forinstance,theymightnoticethataccountsreceivableincreaseddrasticallyovertheyearandlookintothedetailstoseewhy. Taxaccountantsandauditorsalsousethisreporttopreparetaxreturnsandbegintheauditprocess.TheTBformatlendsitselftoawidevarietyofuses. TrialBalanceFormat Thetrialbalanceformatiseasytoreadbecauseofitscleanlayout.Ittypicallyhasfourcolumnswiththefollowingdescriptions:accountnumber,name,debitbalance,andcreditbalance.It’salwayssortedbyaccountnumber,soanyonecaneasilyscandownthereporttofindanaccountbalance.Thisorderalsotendstobeinbalancesheetordersincetheaveragechartofaccountsfollowstheaccountingequationstartingwiththeassets. NotallaccountsinthechartofaccountsareincludedontheTB,however.Usuallyonlyactiveaccountswithyear-endbalanceareincludedintheTBbecauseaccountswithzerobalancesdon’tmakeitonthefinancialstatements.Forexample,ifacompanyhadavehicleatthebeginningoftheyearandsolditbeforeyear-end,thevehicleaccountwouldnotshowupontheyear-endreportbecauseit’snotanactiveaccount. Thereportalsototalsthedebitandcreditcolumnsatthebottom.Aswithallfinancialaccounting,thedebitsmustequalthecredits.Ifit’soutofbalance,somethingiswrongandthebookkeepermustgothrougheachaccounttoseewhatgotpostedorrecordedincorrectly. Thisstepsavesalottimeforaccountantsduringthefinancialstatementpreparationprocessbecausetheydon’thavetoworryaboutthe balancesheet and incomestatement beingoffduetoanout-of-balanceerror.Keepinmind,thisdoesnotensurethatalljournalentrieswererecordedaccurately.Itjustmeansthatthecreditsanddebitsbalance. Ajournalentryerrorcanstillexist.Forinstance,inourvehiclesaleexamplethebookkeepercouldhaveaccidentallydebitedaccountsreceivableinsteadofcashwhenthevehiclewassold.Thedebitswouldstillequalthecredits,buttheindividualaccountsareincorrect.Thistypeoferrorcanonlybefoundbygoingthroughthetrialbalancesheetaccountbyaccount. Sincemostcompanieshavecomputerizedaccountingsystems,theyrarelymanuallycreateaTBorhavetocheckforout-of-balanceerrors.Theycomputersystemdoesthatautomatically. PreparationandProcess HowistheTrialBalancePrepared? Whentheaccountingsystemcreatestheinitialreport,itisconsideredan unadjustedtrialbalance becausenoadjustmentshavebeenmadetothechartofaccounts.Thisissimplyalistofalltheaccountbalancesstraightoutoftheaccountingsystem. Asthebookkeepersandaccountantsexaminethereportandfinderrorsintheaccounts,theyrecordadjustingjournalentriestocorrectthem.Aftertheseerrorsarecorrected,theTBisconsideredan adjustedtrialbalance. Westillaren’tdonewiththisreportyetthough.Theerrorshavebeenidentifiedandcorrected,buttheclosingentriesstillneedtobemadebeforethisTBcanusedtocreatethefinancialstatements.Aftertheclosingentrieshavebeenmadetoclosethetemporaryaccounts,thereportiscalledthe post-closingtrialbalance. Let’stakealookatanexample. Example HowtousetheTrialBalance Here’sanexampletrialbalance.Asyoucansee,thereporthasaheadingthatidentifiesthecompany,reportname,anddatethatitwascreated.Theaccountsarelistedontheleftwiththebalancesunderthedebitandcreditcolumns. Sincethedebitandcreditcolumnsequaleachothertotalingazerobalance,wecanmoveintheyear-endfinancialstatementpreparationprocessandfinishtheaccountingcyclefortheperiod. GeneralJournalChartofAccounts Contents1WhatisaTrialBalance?2TrialBalanceFormat3PreparationandProcess3.1HowistheTrialBalancePrepared?4Example4.1HowtousetheTrialBalance Searchfor: AccountingBasics Home AccountingTopics Resources Careers [i][i]
延伸文章資訊
- 1Trial balance definition - AccountingTools
The trial balance is a report run at the end of an accounting period, listing the ending balance ...
- 2Trial Balance - FundsNet
Example of a Trial Balance
- 3Prepare a Trial Balance – Principles of Accounting ...
The final total in the debit column must be the same dollar amount that is determined in the fina...
- 4Trial Balance: Rules Explained With Examples - Khatabook
Rules in drawing the Trial Balance: · All liabilities must be reflected on the credit side and as...
- 5Trial Balance - Overview, What's Included, and Examples
A trial balance includes a list of all general ledger account totals. Each account should include...