Question

Randomly listed below are the steps for preparing a trial balance: (1) Verify that the total of the Debit column equals the total of the Credit column. (2) List the accounts from the ledger and enter their debit or credit balance in the Debit or Credit column of the trial balance. (3) List the name of the company, the title of the trial balance, and the date the trial balance is prepared. (4) Total the Debit and Credit columns of the trial balance. What is the proper order of these steps?

Answer 1

A test balance is used to detect any calculation error that may have occurred within the accounting system. For this, it is sought to verify if the total debits and the total credits are equal, for this the balance of all accounting books is compiled in column totals of both debit and credit. A company usually prepares a trial balance periodically, usually at the end of each reporting period.

In this case, to carry out the trial balance, you must first clarify the name of the company, the title of the trial balance and the date on which the trial balance is prepared, then proceed to list the ledger accounts and enter the debit and credit balances in the respective columns, then the columns are totalized and finally it is verified that the credit totals are equal to the debit totals

Answer

The correct order of the steps is (3), (2), (4) and (1)