trial balance

American  

noun

Bookkeeping.

• trial balances
  plural

1. a statement of all the open debit and credit items, made preliminary to balancing a double-entry ledger.

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trial balance British  

noun

1. accounting a statement of all the debit and credit balances in the ledger of a double-entry system, drawn up to test their equality

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• trial balances
  plural

Etymology

Origin of trial balance

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trial balance

A trial balance, from gross figures, had been drawn off, so that the President was able to report with reasonable exactitude on the condition of the company.

From White Ashes by Sidney R. (Sidney Robinson) Kennedy

The Batavian Republic now could make up a little trial balance.

From The Rise of the Dutch Kingdom 1795-1813 by Hendrik Willem Van Loon

A trial balance is thus no very adequate safeguard against fraud, nor does it bring to light mistakes in the monetary value attaching to the various transactions recorded.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 2 "Bohemia" to "Borgia, Francis" by Various

It should be observed, however, that the test supplied by the trial balance is a purely mechanical one, and does not prove the absolute accuracy of the ledger as 227 a record of transactions.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 2 "Bohemia" to "Borgia, Francis" by Various

This was not a matter of trial balance.

From Stubble by George Looms