Trial Balance
The trial balance lists every account that has a balance on a date, with the balance in the Debit or the Credit column. Because every journal entry balances, the two columns always add up to the same total. Use it to check the books before a report or a closing, and to jump from an account to the entries behind its balance.
| Menu | Reports > Financial statements > Trial balance |
| Permission | View journal entries and the trial balance |
| Feature | Accounting |
What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.
See the trial balance on a date
- Open Reports and choose Trial balance under Financial statements.
- Choose the dates: the trial balance is on the last day of the range, today's business date when none is chosen. Run the report.
The summary shows the Debits, the Credits and whether the books are Balanced. It counts every posted entry up to and including the date; drafts are not counted.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Account | The account number and name. |
| Type | The account type, such as Asset or Expense. |
| Debit | The balance, when the account's debits are larger than its credits. |
| Credit | The balance, when the account's credits are larger than its debits. |
Accounts whose debits and credits are equal are left out. Like every report, the trial balance can be exported, for example to Excel, to give to your accountant.
See also Journal entries and Chart of accounts.