Trial Balance

The Trial Balance is your accuracy check. It lists every account with its balance and confirms your books are in balance — meaning nothing has been recorded incorrectly.

Purpose

The Trial Balance answers: “Are my books in order?”

Think of it as a health check before generating your financial reports (Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Cash Flow). If the Trial Balance is balanced, you can trust the numbers in those reports.

Caution

A balanced Trial Balance doesn’t guarantee every entry is posted to the correct account — it only confirms the numbers add up. Always review entries for accuracy too.

Accessing the Trial Balance

1. Navigate to Reports → Trial Balance
2. Select the “As of” date
3. The report generates automatically

Note

The Trial Balance is available on Pro and Enterprise plans.

Reading the Report

The report groups accounts by type — Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenue, and Expenses — with a running total for each:

GL Code | Account Name           | Debit        | Credit
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
        | ASSETS                 |              |
1000    | Cash                   | 500,000.00   |
1100    | Accounts Receivable    | 150,000.00   |
        | Subtotal - Assets      | 650,000.00   |
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
        | LIABILITIES            |              |
2000    | Accounts Payable       |              | 75,000.00
        | Subtotal - Liabilities |              | 75,000.00
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
        | EQUITY                 |              |
3000    | Owner's Capital        |              | 400,000.00
3100    | Retained Earnings      |              | 25,000.00
        | Subtotal - Equity      |              | 425,000.00
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
        | REVENUE                |              |
4000    | Sales Revenue          |              | 200,000.00
        | Subtotal - Revenue     |              | 200,000.00
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
        | EXPENSES               |              |
6000    | Salaries & Wages       | 40,000.00    |
6100    | Rent Expense           | 10,000.00    |
        | Subtotal - Expenses    | 50,000.00    |
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
        | TOTALS                 | 700,000.00   | 700,000.00
                                       ✓ Balanced

The key thing to look for: the Debit and Credit totals at the bottom should be equal. When they are, you’ll see ✓ Balanced.

Using the Date Filter

The Trial Balance shows balances as of a specific date:

• Select today for current balances
• Select a past date to see how your books looked at that point in time
• Useful for month-end reviews

What If It’s Not Balanced?

An imbalance is rare in LedgerBuk because entries are validated before saving, but if it happens:

1. Check recent entries — look for anything unusual
2. Review journal entries — make sure each entry balances
3. Look for draft entries — unposted entries won’t appear on the report

Tip

If you spot an error in a posted entry, don’t delete it — use a reversal to correct it. This keeps a clean audit trail.

How Often to Run It

When	Why
Weekly	Quick check that everything adds up
Before closing a period	Confirm accuracy before locking the books
Before sending reports to your accountant	Ensure clean data
At year-end	Archive for audits and tax preparation