Accountancy · Ch 6 — Trial Balance and Rectification of Errors
Introduction
Introduction
The earlier chapters established a basic rule of double-entry accounting: for every debit, there is an equal credit. It follows that if the sum of all debit entries equals the sum of all credit entries across the ledger, the posting is presumed to be arithmetically accurate.
The trial balance is the tool that actually checks this. It is an arithmetical check under the double-entry system, confirming that both aspects — debit and credit — of every transaction have been recorded correctly.
This chapter covers two connected ideas: how a trial balance is prepared and what it proves, and — because agreement of a trial balance doesn't guarantee a completely error-free ledger — the types of errors that can occur and how they are rectified.