N
The Daily Insight Hub

Is trial balance a part of final accounts?

Author

Sarah Martinez

Updated on January 05, 2026

Trial Balance is a list of closing balances of ledger accounts on a certain date and is the first step towards the preparation of financial statements. It is usually prepared at the end of an accounting period to assist in the drafting of financial statements.

Which trial balance is prepared first?

Financial statements are compiled in a specific order because information from one statement carries over to the next statement. The trial balance is the first step in the process, followed by the adjusted trial balance, the income statement, the balance sheet and the statement of owner’s equity.

When should a trial balance typically be prepared?

A company prepares a trial balance periodically, usually at the end of every reporting period. The general purpose of producing a trial balance is to ensure the entries in a company’s bookkeeping system are mathematically correct.

Which account is prepared for trial balance?

Trial balance is the steppingstone for preparing all the financial statements such as Trading and Profit & loss account, balance sheet etc. Using the trial balance, all the income and expenses related ledger accounts are compiled to create Profit and loss account and rest are used for preparing a balance sheet.

How do you prepare a trial balance from a transaction?

If you’ve been entering transactions manually, you create a trial balance by listing all the accounts with their ending debit or credit balances. Then, you total the debit and credit columns. If the totals at the bottom of the two columns are the same, the trial is a success, and your books are in balance.

How do you prepare a trial balance?

Is the preparation of trial balance compulsory?

Trial balance is prepared with the help of ledger accounts, cash book and bank book. It is compulsory for every business firm to prepare trial balance because without preparing the trial balance, it is not possible to prepare final accounts. If the total of both sides of ledger are equal then it is NIL.