What is a trial balance? Why do accountants regularly prepare trial balances?

What will be an ideal response?


A trial balance is an internal accounting schedule that ensures that debits and credits are equal. Debit balances are listed in one column, and credit balances are listed in an adjacent column. The columns are totaled and the totals are compared. If the debit total does not equal the credit total, the accountant knows to search for an error.

Equal debits and credits in a trial balance provide evidence rather than proof of accuracy. Even if the totals are equal, however, there may be errors in the accounting records.

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