The Trial Balance report is a fundamental accounting snapshot that shows the ending balances of each ledger account as of a chosen date. In Ratals ERP, the Trial Balance gives bookkeepers a quick way to verify that total debits equal total credits and to confirm the state of your chart of accounts before producing financial statements. In this tutorial, we'll be covering the following topics:
At its core, the Trial Balance lists each account that has a non-zero balance and shows whether that balance falls under the Debit (DR) or Credit (CR) column. Ratals ERP displays this information in a clean, row-by-row format so you can scan account numbers, names, and types quickly. The report is generated in real time from the system's journal entries, so it always reflects the most recent posted activity in the general ledger.
Below is a screenshot of the Trial Balance report in Ratals ERP, illustrating the clean layout and easy-to-read structure:
Important: this report is a listing of balances - it is not a set of financial statements. Use it to validate bookkeeping and to troubleshoot imbalances before preparing financial reports.
The Trial Balance page includes a single, prominent search field labeled As of Date. That date selector controls the snapshot cutoff: the report calculates balances using all journal entries with a posting date up to and including the selected date. Selecting an earlier date will show historical balances; selecting today shows what the books look like now.
Because Ratals ERP recalculates the Trial Balance from journal entries on report load, changes to journal entries (including newly created ones) are reflected immediately when you reload or refresh the report for the same As of Date.
Each account appears on its own row with five main columns. Below is a breakdown of each column and what to expect.
Note: the list only displays accounts with a balance greater than zero (either in the debit or credit column). Accounts with a zero balance are omitted to keep the report concise.
At the bottom of the report a totals row aggregates the Debit column and the Credit column like this:
In a correctly maintained double-entry bookkeeping system the two totals should be equal. The Trial Balance's immediate purpose is to show whether total debits equal total credits - if they do, your books are internally consistent at that snapshot in time; if they don't, further investigation is needed.
If the totals do not match, begin by adjusting the As Of Date backward until the debits and credits balance. Then move the date forward step by step until you identify the exact date when the totals became unbalanced. This process helps you pinpoint the day when a problematic journal entry was posted or when the issue first began.
Once you have identified the date, review the general ledger for that date. The general ledger will list every journal entry posted on that date, making it easier to spot the specific transaction that caused the imbalance.
You should also check for common causes such as:
Once you identify the problematic journal entry, create a new adjusting entry to correct the totals.
The Trial Balance in Ratals ERP is built directly from journal entries. Every posted journal entry contributes to the running total of the affected accounts. When you open the Trial Balance page, the system aggregates amounts from the journal entries up to the chosen As Of Date and displays the account totals in the appropriate DR or CR column. Because this is done on-demand, the report is effectively real-time: as soon as a journal entry is created, it will appear in the Trial Balance the next time the report is loaded for the same date range.
Use the Trial Balance routinely:
Example: if you expect that Cash (1010) should have a debit balance of $1,000 as of 9/30/2025, set the As of Date to 2025-09-30 and confirm the Cash row shows that amount in the Debit column. If not, inspect the journal entries affecting Cash and reconcile differences.
The Trial Balance in Ratals ERP is a vital admin tool: it provides a date-specific snapshot of your ledger balances, shows which side (debit or credit) each account currently sits on, and gives you an immediate totals check so you can tell whether your books balance. Because the report pulls directly from journal entries and generates in real time, it is the most current representation of your ledger state and a great first stop when preparing financial statements or debugging ledger issues.
A Trial Balance is an accounting report that lists all ledger accounts and their ending balances as of a specific date. It helps verify that total debits equal total credits.
It's recommended to run the Trial Balance daily or weekly for ongoing reconciliation, and always before closing a period for financial reporting.
The "As of Date" determines the cutoff for the report. Only journal entries posted on or before this date are included in the Trial Balance totals.
Ratals ERP only displays accounts that have a balance greater than zero in the debit or credit column. Accounts with a zero balance are omitted to keep the report concise.
Check the general ledger for the date in question, look for unposted or misposted journal entries, and create adjusting entries as needed. Refer to the troubleshooting section above.
Yes, you can export the report to CSV or Excel if you have permission. Be careful when exporting, as changes made outside the ERP may bypass period locks.