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Trial Balance
Are you facing difficulty in understanding the crux of the trial balance? I would like to help you by providing the meaning followed by items to be included on either side of the trial balance.
Meaning
The term trial balance refers to the total of all the general ledger balances. It is a statement prepared at a certain period to check the arithmetic accuracy of the accounts (i.e., whether they are mathematically correct and balanced). It contains a list of all the general ledger accounts.
Trading account, Profit and Loss account and Balance Sheet are prepared according to the ledger balances as posted in the trial balance.
Now it’s time to learn about the various items which are placed on either side of the trial balance.
Items that appear on the debit side of the trial balance
Generally, assets and expenses have a positive balance so they are placed on the debit side of the trial balance. An asset and expense increases when it is debited and vice versa
Exclusive List of Items
- Land and Buildings
- Plant and Machinery
- Furniture and Fixtures
- Office Tools and Equipment
- Cash at Bank
- Cash in Hand
- Motor Van
- Loss from the sale of fixed assets
- Travelling charges
- Printing and postage expenses
- Legal expenses
- Selling and distribution expenses
- Sundry debtors
- Bills receivables
- Commission paid
- Rent paid
- Interest paid
- Discount allowed
- Opening stock
- Purchases
- Prepaid expenses
- Advertisement expenses
- Bad Debts
- Wages and salaries
- Bank charges
Items that appear on the credit side of the trial balance
Generally capital, revenue and liabilities have credit balance so they are placed on the credit side of the trial balance. The capital, revenue and liability increase when it is credited and vice versa.
Exclusive List of Items
- Sundry Creditors
- Bank Overdraft/Loan
- Bills Payables
- Sales (Revenue)
- Purchase Returns
- Common stock
- Un-earned revenues
- Retained earnings
- Rent Received
- Interest Received
- Discount from Creditors
- Discount on Purchases
- Dividend Received
- Interest on Drawings
- Bad Debts recovered
- Provision on Bad Debts (Cr.)
- Apprentice premium
- Miscellaneous/Sundry income
- Commission received
- Bank interest received
- Compensation received
- Outstanding income
- Income from investments
- Bonds payable
- Other incomes