what is a trial balance 
a trial balance is a bookkeeping worksheet in which the balances of all ledgers are compiled into debit and credit account column totals that are equal a company prepares a trial balance periodically usually at the end of every reporting period the general purpose of producing a trial balance is to ensure that the entries in a company s bookkeeping system are mathematically correct a trial balance is so called because it provides a test of a fundamental aspect of a set of books but is not a full audit of them a trial balance is often the first step in an audit procedure because it allows auditors to make sure there are no mathematical errors in the bookkeeping system before moving on to more complex and detailed analyses investopedia joules garcia