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The trial balance: does it close, and what does its difference say

Total six balances into two columns and see the difference — and the difference's shape names the likely error before you go looking.

Result

Total debit balances
156350.00
Total credit balances
156350.00
Difference
0.00
The trial balance closes
1

It closes — and the posting alone is what that proves

What the tool found

  • What closing does not proveFive errors leave the columns equal: a transaction never recorded, one recorded twice in full, one on the wrong account of the right class, one with its sides reversed, and two errors that cancel.

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The method

  1. Debit balances total into one column and credits into another, and the two are compared. Because every entry entered balanced, their agreeing is a necessary consequence of sound posting — not a certificate about meaning.
  2. When they do not agree, the difference has a shape: divisible by nine suggests two digits transposed (54 written as 45). Twice a listed balance suggests that balance sits in the wrong column. Equal to a listed balance suggests it was dropped from one of them.
  3. A zero difference rules out none of five errors: a transaction never recorded, one recorded twice in full, one on the wrong account of the right class, one with its sides reversed, and two errors that cancel. Every one of them leaves the columns equal.

Built forAn accountant reviewing an entry or balance before close

When you need it

You have connected figures that need testing before they enter the close file. Total six balances into two columns and see the difference — and the difference's shape names the likely error before you go looking.

The decision it supports

Use the result to decide whether the work can be accepted or a difference or classification needs tracing. The tool shows its method beside the result so you can review it.

What you receive

The trial balance: does it close, and what does its difference say result

A shareable interactive result with findings, calculation method and an Excel workpaper carrying the same figures.

An example you can inspect

A ready-to-run example

The tool opens with: Cash at banks (debit) = 96000.00, Trade receivables (debit) = 45350.00, Operating expenses (debit) = 15000.00, Trade payables (credit) = 12000.00. Change any value to see its effect immediately.

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