Final answer:
The purpose of Zips Storage unadjusted trial balance is to identify any errors or discrepancies in the company's financial records, not to calculate total assets, determine net income, or prepare financial statements.
Step-by-step explanation:
The purpose of Zips Storage unadjusted trial balance is primarily to identify any errors or discrepancies in the financial records (Option 3). The trial balance is a worksheet where all the balances of each ledger account are compiled into debit and credit account column totals that are equal. A trial balance is created to ensure that the total of all debit balances match the total of all credit balances, which would suggest that the accounting records are balanced. It does not calculate total assets, determine net income, nor prepare financial statements directly; those steps come after ensuring the trial balance is correct.
The trial balance is closely related to the concept of a T-account. In T-accounts, the "T" symbolically separates the assets of a firm on the left side from its liabilities on the right. The assets side features things like a bank's reserves, loans made by the bank, and securities such as U.S. Treasury bonds. Liabilities include the deposits made by customers. The net worth or equity of a bank is the total assets minus total liabilities and is included on the liabilities side to make the T-account balance. This fundamental accounting principle ensures that assets always equal liabilities plus net worth.