Trial Balance and Rectification of Errors

Compare the trial balance of current year with that of the previous year to check additions and deletions of any accounts and also verify whether there is a large difference in amount, which is neither expected nor explained. Re-do and check the correctness of balances of individual accounts in the ledger. Re-check the correctness of the posting in accounts from the books of original entry. If the difference between the debit and credit columns is divisible by , there is a possibility that an amount equal to one-half of the difference may have been posted to the wrong side of another ledger account.

For example, if the total of the debit column of the trial balance exceeds by Rs. , , it is quite possible that a credit item of Rs. may have been wrongly posted in the ledger as a debit item. To locate such errors, the accountant should scan all the debit entries of an amount of Rs.

. The difference may also indicate a complete omission of a posting. For example, the difference of Rs. , given above may be due to omissions of a posting of that amount on the credit side.

Thus, the accountant should verify all the credit items with an amount of Rs. , . If the difference is a multiple of or divisible by , the mistake could be due