The Trial Balance is where you can check that all the Accounting transactions have been done correctly, and that they balance. You can also do this in the Ledger using the Trial Errors filter.

Discover Trail Balance

• Trail Balance Interface
• Trail Balance Setup

Trial Balance Interface

Navigation

Main Menu > Accounting > Trial Balance > View

1. Data Filter - The Data Filter enables you to select a Financial Year followed by a range of Months (Periods) in the Financial Year. The Financial Year filter will be automatically be populated to include the dates of all the Ledger Transactions. The Periods filter will be populated according to the Setting: Financial Year - Starting Month.
2. Balance - Shows the current Trial Balance. If the Trial Balance balances, the Balance will be zero.
3. Opening - This is the Opening Balance of the selected time period.
4. Movement - This is the amount that has been moved through the selected time period.
5. Debit - This shows the amount Debited in the selected time period.
6. Credit - This shows the amount Credited in the selected time period.
7. Menu - The Menu button provides the following additional functionality:
   • Show all Accounts - This will show all the Accounts.
   • Show Transactions - The Trial Balance can display all the Transactions that make up the Trial Balance. Click Show Transactions to change the view. If the Summary View balances, the Details View will also balance, but the totals in the Debit and Credit columns will of course differ.

Trial Balance Setup

The Account Categories include a Trial Balance setting which determines how the Trial Balance is populated. Balances are now displayed in the Debit and Credit columns as follows, based on the Account Category setup:

• IS: Sales - CR
• IS: Cost - DR
• IS: Expenses - DR
• BS: Assets - DR
• BS: Equity - CR
• BS: Liability - CR

Real accounts are also known as Permanent or Balance Sheet accounts and will have balances that carry over from one financial year to the next. Said another way, balance sheet accounts start every new financial year with the closing balance from the previous financial year. With this option, the Trial balance is populated with the Opening Balance as at the beginning of the Financial Year as well as with Movement on the Account for the selected period.

Nominal accounts are also known as Temporary or Income & Expense accounts. These accounts only run for that financial year. That means no balances are carried over to the next financial year. Eg. In the case of Sales. This account will accumulate from the 1st month of the year up to the 12th. Then in the following financial year it starts again at zero.

The Opening option is used for Real Accounts that are only updated once annually. eg. Retained Earnings. With this option, the Trial Balance is only populated with the Opening Balance as at the start of the Financial Year.

The Dr and Cr suffix on the options determines which side of the Trial Balance the Accounts will be summarised to.

The Accounts include a 'Reporting' setting which determines whether values will be summarised using the Excluding VAT, Including VAT or VAT Amount values of transactions.