Meaning of Trial Balance
A trial balance is a statement showing the balances, or total of debits and credits, of all the accounts in the ledger with a view to verify the arithmatical accuracy of posting into the ledger accounts. Trial balance is an important statement in the accounting process as it shows the final position of all accounts and helps in preparing the final statements. The task of preparing the statements is simplified because the accountant can take the balances of all accounts from the trial balance instead of going through the whole ledger. It may be noted that the trial balance is usually prepared with the balances of accounts. It is normally prepared at the end of an accounting year. However, an organisation may prepare a trial balance at the end of any chosen period, which may be monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually depending upon its requirements. In order to prepare a trial balance following steps are taken: • Ascertain the balances of each account in the ledger. • List each...