P4, M1 Unit 8 Accounting

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P4, M2 In this assignment I am going to describe what a trial balance is, it’s purpose and how to prepare one. What is a trial balance? A trial balance is a list of closing balances of ledger accounts on a certain date and is the first step towards the preparation of final accounts. It is usually prepared at the end of an accounting period; this may be every month, 3 months, 6 months or year. Ledger balances are separated into debit balances (money out) and credit balances (money in). Asset and expense accounts appear on the debit side of the trial balance whereas liabilities, capital and income accounts appear on the credit side. If all accounting entries are recorded correctly and all the ledger balances are accurately extracted, the total of all debit balances appearing in the trial balance should be equal to the sum of all credit balances. A trial balance is most effective when produced on a regular basis as it allows accountants to analyse where the business stands financially as well as enabling them to identify and resolve any mathematical/arithmetic problems that may have occurred in the ledgers. However it must be remembered that a successful trial balance is no guarantee that the accounts are error free and it only means that all transactions have been entered in balance. How to construct a trial balance To prepare trial balance accountants must follow these steps: 1. Close all ledger accounts by totalling up transactions. 2. Create a table with three columns – one for account titles, another for debits and the other for credits. At the top of the table ensure that a date is included so that when accountants look back they know what accounting period it is referring to. 3. Fill in the account titles and record their balances in the appropriate debit or credit columns. The data that will be entered can be found in the general

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