Final answer:
A trial balance is a list of all the accounts in a company's general ledger with their respective debit and credit amounts. It is prepared to ensure that total debits equal total credits before the financial statements are created.
Step-by-step explanation:
A trial balance is a list of all the accounts in a company's general ledger with their respective debit and credit amounts. It is prepared to ensure that total debits equal total credits before the financial statements are created. In order to prepare a trial balance, you need to follow these steps:
- List all the accounts in the financial statement order: assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, and expenses.
- Post the balances of each account to the appropriate column of the trial balance.
- Calculate the total debits and credits for each column.
- Verify that the total debits equal total credits.