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The Trial Balance is one of the best places to start when you are checking whether the posted ledger is structurally sound. It lists balances by account and compares the debit side of the books with the credit side. In a valid double-entry ledger, total posted debits and total posted credits should balance.

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What the Trial Balance tells you

The report answers two questions:
  1. What balance does each ledger account currently carry for the selected reporting context?
  2. Does the posted debit-credit structure balance overall?
It does not tell you whether every transaction was posted to the correct account. A balanced ledger can still contain a classification mistake. That is why Trial Balance is a structural check, not the final answer to every accounting question.

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How to read the accounts

Accounts usually belong to broader accounting categories such as assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. The Trial Balance shows the account-level balances that later feed reports such as Profit & Loss and the Balance Sheet. If a number surprises you, do not edit the report. Trace the account back to the General Ledger and the Journal Entries that created the balance.

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Why total debits and credits should match

Lynka’s posted journal model follows double-entry accounting. Each posted Journal Entry should have equal debit and credit totals. The combined Trial Balance should therefore also reconcile. If the totals do not match, investigate posting integrity rather than trying to force the report to a target number.

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A balanced Trial Balance can still be wrong

Examples:
  • a supplier expense was posted to the wrong expense account
  • a customer payment was posted to the wrong cash or bank account
  • revenue was classified to the wrong revenue account
  • an opening balance was entered to the wrong account pair
Those mistakes can preserve equal debits and credits while still producing misleading financial statements.

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Use the General Ledger to investigate

Open General Ledger when you need to see the journal activity behind an account. A practical investigation is:
  1. identify the account with the surprising balance
  2. open the General Ledger for that account and period
  3. review the posted entries that increased or decreased it
  4. open the underlying Journal or source transaction
  5. correct through the appropriate auditable workflow rather than rewriting history silently

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Before period close

The Trial Balance is a useful pre-close check. Make sure the books balance, investigate unexpected account balances, and reconcile the major control accounts before closing the period. That does not replace bank reconciliation, receivables review, payables review, or tax review. It is one part of the close process.

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Permissions and scope

Financial reports are protected separately from ordinary Accounting navigation. A user may be able to work an Accounting task without having permission to view every financial statement.

General Ledger

Trace an account balance to the posted entries behind it.

Close a period

Use the Trial Balance as part of your close review.
Last modified on September 7, 2026