A trial balance is a bookkeeping report that lists the closing debit and credit balances of every account in the general ledger at a given date, with the two columns expected to total to the same figure. It is used to check the arithmetical accuracy of the double-entry records before preparing the financial statements.
What the Trial Balance is
The Trial Balance in TaxOptimiser is a summary report that lists every account in your ledger along with its closing debit or credit balance for a chosen period. It gives you a single view of where your bookkeeping stands and is the starting point for producing accurate financial statements and tax returns.
Who should use it
The Trial Balance is useful for:
- Sole traders reviewing income and expenses before submitting a Self Assessment.
- Landlords checking rental income, allowable expenses and mortgage interest balances across properties.
- Small businesses preparing year-end accounts or management figures for a period.
- Accountants and bookkeepers reviewing client files, performing checks and exporting figures into working papers.
Understanding the columns
A typical Trial Balance in TaxOptimiser shows:
- Account code – the nominal code assigned to each ledger account.
- Account name – a description of what the account records, such as Sales, Rent Received or Office Costs.
- Debit – the closing debit balance for that account at the end of the period.
- Credit – the closing credit balance for that account at the end of the period.
At the foot of the report, the total of the debit column should equal the total of the credit column.
Which accounts usually appear as debits or credits
- Debit balances typically include assets (bank, debtors, fixed assets) and expenses.
- Credit balances typically include liabilities (creditors, loans, VAT owed), equity and income.
Drilling down into account balances
If a balance looks unexpected, you can usually click straight through to see what's behind it:
- Click the figure next to the account you want to investigate.
- TaxOptimiser will open a list of the underlying transactions for the period.
- From there, click any transaction to view or edit it.
This makes it easy to trace a balance back to source documents such as invoices, receipts or bank entries.
Using the Trial Balance to check your bookkeeping
Before relying on the report for tax or year-end work, it's good practice to run through a few checks:
- Confirm the debit and credit totals match at the foot of the report.
- Look for accounts with unusual signs, such as a bank account showing a credit balance when it should be in debit.
- Compare balances to the previous period and investigate large or unexpected movements.
- Check that control accounts (for example debtors, creditors, VAT and PAYE) agree with their supporting ledgers or returns.
- Make sure all bank and credit card accounts have been reconciled up to the period end.
A clean Trial Balance is the foundation of accurate accounts. Time spent reviewing it now will save time correcting figures later.
Exporting and sharing the report
You can export the Trial Balance from TaxOptimiser for use in working papers, client packs or external review:
- PDF – ideal for sharing with clients or attaching to year-end files.
- Excel or CSV – useful for further analysis, reconciliations or importing into other tools.
- Print – directly from the report view if you need a hard copy.
Use the export buttons at the top of the report screen and choose your preferred format.
Heads up - If you're an accountant working on a client file, run the Trial Balance early in your review. It often highlights areas that need attention before you begin detailed work on the accounts or tax return.
Next steps
Once you're happy that the Trial Balance is accurate, you can move on to producing your Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and tax computations within TaxOptimiser, confident that the underlying figures are reliable.
If you need further help, visit the TaxOptimiser Help Centre or contact Support for assistance with your specific file.