Accounting
Financial Management
Trial Balance Template: How to Prepare and Check a Trial Balance
Last updated: October 9, 2026 · Independent guide · We do not sell rankings or coverage.
A trial balance template lists every general ledger account with its debit or credit balance at a period end, so you can prove total debits equal total credits before you prepare financial statements. You usually run it three times in a close: unadjusted (before adjusting entries), adjusted (after them) and post-closing (after revenue, expense and distribution accounts are closed to retained earnings). The template below covers all three, adds the tie-out checks that a balanced total does not prove, and gives a diagnostic table for when the totals do not agree.
How to use this template
Part A records what the trial balance is and where it came from. Part B is the worksheet: one row per account, with the unadjusted balance, the adjustments and the adjusted balance side by side. Part C logs the adjusting entries, Part D is the post-closing trial balance, and Part E is the review checklist. All amounts are an illustration for a fictional distributor, Example Supply Co., with a fiscal year ending September 30, 2026. Credits are shown in parentheses so the worksheet fits in four columns; in a spreadsheet, keep debits positive and credits negative so a single SUM of each column must return zero.
The trial balance template
Part A: Header (complete every time you export)
| Field | What to enter | Example (illustration) | Your entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entity and ledger | Legal entity, ledger or book, currency | Example Supply Co., primary ledger, USD | |
| Period end and basis | As-of date; accrual or cash | September 30, 2026 (fiscal year end), accrual | |
| Version | Unadjusted, adjusted or post-closing | Adjusted | |
| Source and run time | Report name, system, date and time exported | GL trial balance, run October 6, 2026, 9:14 a.m. | |
| Status of period | Open, soft-closed or locked when exported | Soft-closed | |
| Prepared and reviewed | Names and dates | Preparer and reviewer initials, dates |
Part B: Trial balance worksheet (unadjusted to adjusted)
| Account (number and name) | Unadjusted balance | Adjustments (ref) | Adjusted balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 Cash | $84,200 | $84,200 | |
| 1100 Accounts receivable | $126,500 | $126,500 | |
| 1150 Allowance for credit losses | ($3,800) | ($2,100) AJE-4 | ($5,900) |
| 1200 Inventory | $212,000 | $212,000 | |
| 1300 Prepaid insurance | $18,000 | ($6,000) AJE-3 | $12,000 |
| 1500 Equipment | $145,000 | $145,000 | |
| 1550 Accumulated depreciation | ($41,500) | ($1,500) AJE-1 | ($43,000) |
| 2000 Accounts payable | ($97,300) | ($97,300) | |
| 2100 Accrued liabilities | 0 | ($10,000) AJE-2, AJE-5 | ($10,000) |
| 2300 Line of credit | ($60,000) | ($60,000) | |
| 3000 Common stock | ($50,000) | ($50,000) | |
| 3100 Retained earnings (opening) | ($183,900) | ($183,900) | |
| 3200 Distributions | $24,000 | $24,000 | |
| 4000 Sales revenue | ($1,284,000) | ($1,284,000) | |
| 5000 Cost of goods sold | $768,400 | $768,400 | |
| 6000 Salaries and wages | $236,000 | $9,600 AJE-2 | $245,600 |
| 6100 Rent | $60,000 | $60,000 | |
| 6200 Insurance expense | $12,000 | $6,000 AJE-3 | $18,000 |
| 6300 Depreciation expense | $16,500 | $1,500 AJE-1 | $18,000 |
| 6400 Utilities | $14,700 | $14,700 | |
| 6500 Interest expense | $3,200 | $400 AJE-5 | $3,600 |
| 6600 Credit loss expense | 0 | $2,100 AJE-4 | $2,100 |
| Net of all rows (must be zero) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total debits = total credits | $1,720,500 | $19,600 | $1,734,100 |
Net income in the adjusted column is $153,600 (illustration): revenue of $1,284,000 less expenses of $1,130,400.
Part C: Adjusting entry log
| Ref | Entry | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| AJE-1 | September depreciation: Dr 6300 Depreciation expense, Cr 1550 Accumulated depreciation | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| AJE-2 | Wages earned but unpaid at September 30: Dr 6000 Salaries and wages, Cr 2100 Accrued liabilities | $9,600 | $9,600 |
| AJE-3 | Insurance expired July to September: Dr 6200 Insurance expense, Cr 1300 Prepaid insurance | $6,000 | $6,000 |
| AJE-4 | Allowance true-up from the aging review: Dr 6600 Credit loss expense, Cr 1150 Allowance | $2,100 | $2,100 |
| AJE-5 | Interest accrued on the line of credit: Dr 6500 Interest expense, Cr 2100 Accrued liabilities | $400 | $400 |
| Total | Adjustments must balance on their own | $19,600 | $19,600 |
Part D: Post-closing trial balance (September 30, 2026, illustration)
| Account | Debit | Credit | Tie-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 Cash | $84,200 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 1100 Accounts receivable | $126,500 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 1150 Allowance for credit losses | $5,900 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 1200 Inventory | $212,000 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 1300 Prepaid insurance | $12,000 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 1500 Equipment | $145,000 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 1550 Accumulated depreciation | $43,000 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 2000 Accounts payable | $97,300 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 2100 Accrued liabilities | $10,000 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 2300 Line of credit | $60,000 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 3000 Common stock | $50,000 | Agrees to balance sheet line | |
| 3100 Retained earnings (closing) | $313,500 | $183,900 + $153,600 net income − $24,000 distributions | |
| Totals | $579,700 | $579,700 | Difference must be $0 |
Part E: Review checklist
| Check | How to perform it | Pass condition | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Debits equal credits | Sum each column; net the signed balances | Difference is $0.00 in every column | |
| 2. Complete account list | Compare account count to the chart of accounts, including zero balances | No missing or unmapped accounts | |
| 3. Opening balances | Prior period post-closing TB versus this period’s opening balances | Every balance sheet account agrees | |
| 4. Retained earnings roll | Opening RE + net income − distributions | Equals post-closing RE | |
| 5. Subledger tie-outs | AR aging, AP aging, fixed asset register, inventory valuation versus control accounts | Agree, or reconciling items listed | |
| 6. Bank and debt | Bank reconciliations and lender statements versus cash and debt accounts | Agree to reconciled balances | |
| 7. Abnormal balances | Scan for credit balances in assets or expenses and debit balances in liabilities or revenue | Each one explained | |
| 8. Suspense and clearing | Suspense, clearing and opening balance accounts | Zero, or a cleared list with dates | |
| 9. Temporary accounts after close | Revenue, expense and distribution accounts on the post-closing TB | All zero |
How to fill in each part
Header: make the report reproducible
A trial balance is only as reliable as the settings behind it. Record the entity, ledger or book, accounting basis, as-of date and the time you exported it, because a report run before the last journal was posted will not match one run after. Sage Intacct’s trial balance, for example, can be produced from an accrual or cash reporting book and can combine that book with adjustment books such as GAAP or tax books, or return the adjustment books alone (Sage Intacct Developer, no date shown). If you do not note which book you ran, a reviewer cannot rerun your numbers.
Unadjusted trial balance: the starting point
The unadjusted trial balance is the ledger as it stands after routine postings from billing, payables, payroll, inventory and bank feeds, before any period-end adjustments. OpenStax’s accounting text defines a trial balance as a list of all general ledger accounts with nonzero balances, in accounting equation order: assets, then liabilities, then equity (OpenStax, April 11, 2019). List revenue and expenses after equity, in chart-of-accounts order.
Before you post adjustments, reconcile the accounts that subledgers feed: cash to the bank reconciliation, receivables to the accounts receivable aging report, payables to the AP aging, and fixed assets to the register. Adjusting entries built on an unreconciled balance carry the error forward.
Adjustments: one reference per entry
Each adjusting entry gets a reference (AJE-1, AJE-2) that appears both in the log and next to every account it touches on the worksheet. The adjustment column must also balance on its own; if it does not, one entry is one-sided and you will find it faster in the log than in the full worksheet.
If you use QuickBooks Online Accountant, you can tick “Is Adjusting Journal Entry?” on a journal entry, and the Adjusted Trial Balance report then shows balances before and after adjustments with the adjustment totals (Intuit QuickBooks, updated August 3, 2026).
Adjusted trial balance: the source for the statements
The adjusted column is what you map to the income statement and balance sheet. Check the direction of every change: expenses should rise with accruals, and a contra account such as accumulated depreciation should become more negative. Explain any movement against the prior month above your review threshold.
Post-closing trial balance: confirm the close worked
After closing entries move revenue, expenses and distributions into retained earnings, the post-closing trial balance should contain only permanent accounts. OpenStax notes that if temporary accounts still appear, there was an error in the closing process that must be fixed before the new period starts (OpenStax, April 11, 2019). In the illustration, closing retained earnings of $313,500 equals opening retained earnings of $183,900, plus net income of $153,600, minus distributions of $24,000.
Checklist: what a balanced total does not prove
Equal columns only show that the arithmetic is consistent. OpenStax states plainly that you can have errors and still be mathematically in balance (OpenStax, April 11, 2019). Checks 2 to 9 in Part E are there to catch those errors.
What to do when the trial balance does not balance
Start by calculating the difference between total debits and total credits, then use the pattern of that number to narrow the search.
| What you see | Likely cause | Where to look first |
|---|---|---|
| Difference divisible by 9 | Transposed digits (for example 17,400 entered as 14,700) or a slide in the decimal point | Accounts whose balance contains the digits in a different order |
| Difference equals one balance | An account left off the list, or a row deleted from the spreadsheet | Account count versus the chart of accounts |
| Half the difference matches a balance | That balance was placed in the wrong column | Accounts equal to half the difference on the larger side |
| Difference equals one transaction | A one-sided manual entry, or an entry posted once but keyed twice | Manual journals and spreadsheet uploads for the period |
| Difference only in an export | Report filters: period, book, entity, hidden zero rows or rounding | Report settings and the export, not the ledger |
| Ties in total but a subledger does not agree | Direct posting to a control account or a timing cutoff | Journal entries to AR, AP and inventory control accounts |
Two quick tests come from standard accounting texts. Divide the difference by two and look for an account with that balance on the larger side, because it may be in the wrong column. Then divide the difference by nine; a whole-number result suggests a transposition (OpenStax, April 11, 2019). As an illustration, if utilities of $17,400 were keyed as $14,700, the columns would differ by $2,700, which is 300 times nine.
If neither test works, compare the account list with the chart of accounts. In a spreadsheet, check that the SUM ranges cover every row; an inserted row outside the range is a common cause. Do not post the difference to a suspense account and move on unless you also record who will clear it and by when.
When the trial balance comes from accounting software
A double-entry system rejects unbalanced journal entries, so a system trial balance that does not foot usually points to the report, not the ledger. Check the period, entity, book and basis filters, whether zero-balance accounts are hidden, and whether rounding in a currency-translated or consolidated view is creating the gap. Oracle advises confirming that all subledger transactions are imported and all journal entries for the period are posted before you run its general ledger trial balance reports (Oracle Fusion Cloud Financials, release 25D, no date shown).
The more common software problem is a trial balance that balances while a control account disagrees with its subledger. That happens when someone posts a manual journal directly to accounts receivable, accounts payable or inventory. Restrict direct posting to control accounts where your system allows it, and keep the subledger tie-outs in Part E.
Common mistakes
- Exporting before the period is locked. Late postings change the numbers after you have reviewed them. Soft-close the period or record the export time in the header.
- Mixing “net change” and “balance at date.” Business Central’s Trial Balance report can show both the net change over a period and the balance at a date (Microsoft Learn, last updated May 2, 2025). Balance sheet accounts need the balance at date; using net change for them produces a trial balance that looks wrong.
- Adjusting in the spreadsheet only. If an adjustment is not also posted in the ledger, next month’s opening balances will be wrong.
- Accepting abnormal balances. A credit balance in inventory or a debit balance in accounts payable usually means a misposting or an unapplied payment.
- Skipping the retained earnings roll. If opening retained earnings does not equal last year’s closing figure, it usually means a prior-period entry was posted after the books were closed.
When to move from a spreadsheet to software
A spreadsheet trial balance works for a single entity with a few dozen accounts. It becomes risky with several entities, recurring adjustments or a need for an audit trail on each one. Our guide to the best accounting software for small businesses compares entry-level options.
QuickBooks Online Accountant separates adjusting entries with a flag and reports them on the Adjusted Trial Balance. Intuit’s help article describes a single adjusting flag, not separate tax and book adjustment sets. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers net change and balance-at-date views with dimension filters and subtotals (Microsoft Learn, May 2, 2025). Sage Intacct can combine the reporting book with adjustment books such as GAAP or tax and filter by department, location, project and other dimensions (Sage Intacct Developer, no date shown). Oracle Fusion Cloud Financials provides summary and detail trial balance reports by ledger and balancing segment, plus an average balances trial balance report (Oracle, release 25D).
Accounting firms that prepare client statements and returns often work in a separate trial balance tool. Thomson Reuters Onvio Trial Balance, for example, shows unadjusted, adjusting, adjusted, reclassifying, tax and other journal entry columns with workpaper references and tickmarks (Thomson Reuters, no date shown). If your main pain is the monthly close rather than the report itself, see our guide to accounting close automation.
How we researched this
We reviewed the pages that rank for “trial balance template” in October 2026, including downloadable templates from Financial Cents (which sells practice management software) and ExcelDataPro, and a template page from Sourcetable (which sells an AI spreadsheet product) that generates the template inside its product. Most offer a two-column layout and a definition, with little on post-closing checks, subledger tie-outs or software reports. We based the accounting rules on the OpenStax Principles of Accounting text and the software behavior on each vendor’s own documentation. The worked figures are an illustration we built and checked so every column balances.
Related guides
- Adjusting Journal Entries: 5 Types, Examples, Automation
- General Ledger Reconciliation: Steps, Frequency and Review
- Month-End Close Checklist Template (2026)
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an unadjusted and an adjusted trial balance?
An unadjusted trial balance shows ledger balances after routine postings but before period-end adjusting entries. The adjusted trial balance adds accruals, deferrals, depreciation and other adjustments, and it is the version you use to prepare financial statements. Both must have equal debit and credit totals.
Which accounts appear on a post-closing trial balance?
Only permanent accounts appear: assets, liabilities and equity, including the updated retained earnings balance. Revenue, expense and distribution or dividend accounts should all be zero after closing. If any temporary account still has a balance, the closing entries were incomplete.
If my trial balance balances, are my books correct?
No. A balanced trial balance only shows that recorded debits equal recorded credits. It will not reveal an omitted transaction, an entry posted to the wrong account or an equal error on both sides, so you still need account reconciliations and subledger tie-outs.
Why is my trial balance difference divisible by 9?
A difference that divides evenly by nine often means two digits were transposed, such as 14,700 keyed instead of 17,400, or a decimal point slipped. Look for a balance containing the same digits in a different order. If that fails, check whether the difference equals a single balance left off the list.
Can accounting software produce a trial balance that does not balance?
A double-entry system should not allow an unbalanced journal, so an out-of-balance report usually comes from filters, hidden rows, rounding in translated or consolidated figures, or an incomplete export. Rerun it with the correct period, book and entity.
Sources
- OpenStax, Principles of Accounting, Volume 1: Financial Accounting, section 3.6 “Prepare a Trial Balance,” published April 11, 2019. openstax.org
- OpenStax, Principles of Accounting, Volume 1: Financial Accounting, section 5.2 “Prepare a Post-Closing Trial Balance,” published April 11, 2019. openstax.org
- Intuit QuickBooks, “Make adjusting journal entries in QuickBooks Online Accountant,” updated August 3, 2026. quickbooks.intuit.com
- Microsoft Learn, Business Central “Trial Balance” report (report 6), last updated May 2, 2025. learn.microsoft.com
- Sage Intacct Developer, “Trial Balances” (get_trialbalance), no date shown. developer.intacct.com
- Oracle, Fusion Cloud Financials 25D, “General Ledger Trial Balance Reports,” no date shown. docs.oracle.com
- Thomson Reuters, “Columns in the Trial Balance screen” (Onvio Trial Balance), no date shown. cs.thomsonreuters.com
- Financial Cents (sells practice management software), “Free Trial Balance Worksheet Template,” last updated August 7, 2026. financial-cents.com
- ExcelDataPro, “Trial Balance Template,” no date shown. exceldatapro.com
- Sourcetable (sells an AI spreadsheet product), “Trial Balance Template,” no date shown. sourcetable.com
Sherman Hsieh
Independent analysis of enterprise software — ERP, CRM and more
