Question

Which of the following is not a useful step in finding errors on the trial balance?

a. Determine the difference between debits and credits and look for the amount.
b. Determine the difference between debits and credits, divide the amount by 2, and look for the amount.
c. Determine the difference between debits and credits, divide the amount by 9, and if it divides evenly, look for a transposition or slide error.
d. Determine the difference between debits and credits and change any account to make the trial balance correct.

Answer 1

The correct answer is d. Determine the difference between debits and credits and change any account to make the trial balance correct. It is important to identify imbalances in accounts, but changing account balances is not a useful step.

Step-by-step explanation:

The answer is d. Determine the difference between debits and credits and change any account to make the trial balance correct.

When finding errors on the trial balance, it is important to determine the difference between debits and credits as a first step. This helps identify any imbalances in the accounts. However, changing any account to make the trial balance correct is not a useful step as it involves altering the actual account balances, which can lead to incorrect financial statements.

Instead, it is recommended to investigate and correct the specific error(s) causing the imbalance, such as transposition errors, omitted entries, or incorrect postings.