Trial Balance

Calculating the Balance of a Ledger Account

• Place a ruled lined below the last recorded transaction on each side.
• Add the two sides of the account (DR and CR) separately.
• Place a total for each side (DR/CR) underneath the ruled line.  These are called pin totals or pencil footings.
• Calculate the final total by subtracting the smaller amount from the larger amount.
• Place the total on the correct side of the account (left for assets, right for liabilities/equity usually) and bold or make the font larger.

The Trial Balance

• A trial balance is a listing of the account balances in the ledger

• It is used to ensure that the total value of the debits match the total value of the credits

Features of the Trial Balance

• Headings:  Who (name of company)

                                    What (name of statement)
                                    When (specific date)

• The headings Accounts, Debits and Credits should be above the accounts.

• Accounts are listed in order that they appear in the ledger in one column

• Debit balances are placed in the debit column and Credits in the credit column

• Dollar signs appear at the top of every column and every double underlined total

• The debits must equal the credits or the Trial Balance is incorrect