Question 1

What is a trial balance?

Accepted Answer

A list of every account with a non-zero balance, shown on its debit or credit side. If your double-entry postings are correct, total debits equal total credits.

Question 2

Where do the numbers come from?

Accepted Answer

From the Journal Entry tool on this site — the trial balance recomputes automatically from your posted entries, using your Chart of Accounts.

Question 3

What if it doesn't balance?

Accepted Answer

With this tool it always should, because unbalanced journal entries can't be posted. If you imported or edited data elsewhere, the difference banner tells you how far apart the sides are.

Trial Balance

Terms explained

Account	Debit	Credit