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The Daily Insight Hub

What are the columns in trial balance?

Author

Emma Miller

Updated on February 06, 2026

A trial balance typically consists of a worksheet with two separate columns that account for the debits and credits that a company incurs throughout a certain period of time. These columns will list all business transactions made during the set period of time, including revenue, liabilities and assets.

What goes on a trial balance section of the worksheet?

A trial balance worksheet is a multi-column spreadsheet that contains the ending balances of all general ledger accounts used by a business. The worksheet is useful for converting ending account balances into financial statements, if there is no accounting software on hand that can accomplish this task automatically.

What is the trial balance worksheet?

A trial balance is a bookkeeping worksheet in which the balance of all ledgers are compiled into debit and credit account column totals that are equal. A company prepares a trial balance periodically, usually at the end of every reporting period.

How do you prepare a trial balance worksheet?

Preparing a Trial Balance for Your Business

  1. Prepare a worksheet with three columns.
  2. Fill in all the account titles and record their balances in the appropriate debit or credit columns.
  3. Total the debit and credit columns.
  4. Compare the column totals.

How many columns are in a balance sheet?

Preparation of the Balance Sheet. Balance sheets are prepared with either one or two columns, with assets first, followed by liabilities and net worth.

How many columns are there in ledger?

Each of the general ledgers debit and credit side has four columns.

What is trial balance and balance sheet?

Trial balance is a statement that is created with the intention of recording balances from all the ledger accounts. Balance sheet is the financial statement which shows the position of the assets and liabilities of an organisation at a given time point of time.

What goes on a trial balance?

A trial balance includes a list of all general ledger account totals. Each account should include an account number, description of the account, and its final debit/credit balance. In this case, it should show the figures before the adjustment, the adjusting entry, and the balances after the adjustment.

What is trial balance PDF?

This is a financial document prepared at the end of every financial year. It shows the debits and credits of a given business for a certain financial period. In a trial balance, amounts on both the debit side and credit side must balance.

What are the 3 columns in a balance sheet?

Although it can differ from one industry to the next, the balance sheet typically consists of three main parts: assets, liabilities and shareholder equity.

What are the key columns in a Trial Balance Worksheet?

The key columns in a trial balance worksheet are: Column 1 contains the account number of every account that has a balance. The accounts are almost always listed in ascending numerical order, which usually means that the order of priority in the spreadsheet is assets, then liabilities, then equity accounts, then revenue, and then expense accounts.

What is an adjusted trial balance in accounting?

These two columns are known as the adjusted trial balance. Additional columns may be added in which to carry forward revenue and expense balances to create an income statement. In addition, there may be additional columns in which asset, liability, and equity accounts are carried forward to create a balance sheet.

What is the difference between column 3 and column 4?

Column 3 contains the ending debit balance in each account. If the balance is instead a credit balance (which is likely for liability, equity, and revenue accounts) then it appears in Column 4. Column 4 contains the ending credit balance in each account.

What is a final adjusted debit on a balance sheet?

These adjustments are typically for such matters as accrued expenses, or deferring expenses by shifting them into asset accounts. Columns 7 and 8 contain the final adjusted debit (Column 7) and credit (Column 8) account balances.