Chapter 5
Checking Your Accuracy
IN THIS CHAPTER
Putting your balances on trial
Finding and correcting errors
Preparing a worksheet
Generating reports from your computerized system
After you close out all your journals and do your darnedest to catch any and all errors, the time comes to test your work. If you’ve entered all double-entry transactions in the books correctly, the books balance out, and your trial’s a success!
Unfortunately, few bookkeepers get their books to balance on the first try. In some cases, the books balance, but errors still exist. This chapter explains how to do a trial balance of your books and gives tips on finding any errors that may be lurking. You also find out how to take your first step toward developing financial reports (explored in Book 2) by creating a worksheet.
Working with a Trial Balance
When you start entering transactions in a dual-entry accounting system, you may think, “This is a lot of work, and I don’t know how I’m ever going to use all this information.” You enter all your transactions by using debits and credits without knowing whether ...
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