Trial Balance
A listing of all general ledger account balances used to verify that debits equal credits.
A trial balance is a bookkeeping report that lists the closing balance of every account in the general ledger, organised into debit and credit columns. If total debits equal total credits, the books are in balance — though this doesn't guarantee they're correct.
The trial balance serves as the starting point for financial statement preparation. Accountants use it to identify posting errors, misclassifications, and accounts that need adjusting entries before producing the P&L and balance sheet.
In practice, the trial balance is the most common input format for financial analysis tools. When a finance team uploads data to generate dashboards or reports, they're typically working from a trial balance or a chart of accounts export.
An adjusted trial balance — produced after period-end journal entries like depreciation, accruals, and provisions — is the version used to generate the final financial statements.
Related Terms
The master record of all financial transactions in a business, organised by account.
A snapshot of a company's assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time.
The process of matching two sets of records to ensure they agree — a critical month-end control.
Further Reading
Learn what financial reconciliation is, why it matters for business accuracy, and how to stop eyeballing transactions manually every single month.
A step-by-step guide for finance teams managing multi-entity close processes — how to cut cycle time without sacrificing accuracy.