What is a trial balance?
submitted by patrick kouffie

Jaydev

Preparation of Trial Balance is the third phase in accounting process. After posting the ledger, a statement is prepared to show separately the debit and credit balances. Such a statement is called the trial balance.

Schmoolie

A trial balance is a list of all the accounts in your books. It shows their balances. To prepare it, you just write down the totals of all your debits and credits and check if they match. Its main purpose is to make sure your books are balanced and free from mistakes.

Medulla Oblongata

Preparing a trial balance involves listing all the ledger account balances at a specific date, separating debits and credits. You then total each side and compare the totals. If they match, it indicates that your ledger is balanced,

You do this so you can catch errors before prepping financial statements.

reggie

Trial balance is kind of like a checkpoint to look for errors. It's just one way to check for accuracy.

If you’re balancing a checkbook and the totals don’t match, you know something’s off, and you can start looking for the problem. That's basically what preparing a trial balance does. You do it before you prepare your financial statements so you know everything is in line first.