Trial balance
Trial balance is a listing of every account in the general ledger with its closing debit or credit balance. Total debits must equal total credits; agreement confirms that entries have been posted symmetrically.
FrameworkDouble-entry bookkeeping
See it move
A balance diagram places total debits of €10,600 on the left and total credits of €10,600 on the right, joined by an equals sign. When the two columns match, every debit entry in the ledger has a corresponding credit, confirming that the double-entry rule was applied consistently throughout the period. Equality does not, however, guarantee that entries were posted to the correct accounts — only that no debit or credit was omitted.
The formula
Variables
- Sum of all ledger account debit balances (€)
- Sum of all ledger account credit balances (€)
If this equality holds, every journal entry has a matching debit and credit; equality is necessary but not sufficient to confirm error-free records.
Check yourself
A bookkeeper prepares a trial balance and finds that total debits equal total credits. Which conclusion is most accurate?