The Trial Balance report is the sum of debits and credits for every account of your business on an accrual basis. It allows you to identify discrepancies in your account totals, produce financial statements and ensure that your accounts balance for a given period of time.
The debits and credits for each of your accounts are listed and the sum of each listed at the bottom. If the totals are the same, then your accounts balance, there are no mathematical errors in your accounting process and you can trust that FreshBooks is doing its job accurately.
Access the Trial Balance Report
The Trial Balance report can be accessed using these steps:
- Select the Reports section
- Then select Trial Balance under Accounting Reports.
To adjust your view of the Trial Balance report, select Filters under Settings. From there, you can change:
- Reset all - Select this link to restore the filters back to the default settings
- Date Range - Choose from This Month, This Year, Last Year, This Quarter, Last Quarter, or Custom to enter a specific date range (or if you’ve changed your fiscal year end date, choose from the extra options)
- Currency - Toggle between multiple currencies, only one currency can be viewed at a time
Additional options can also be accessed in the top right corner of the Trial Balance report:
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More Actions
- Export for Excel - Download the report as a CSV file
- Print - Print the report or save the report as a PDF using the print dialog
- Send... - Email the report to any specific email addresses
For more information on the Retained Earnings account, use the Balance Sheet report instead
FAQs
What’s the difference between a Trial Balance and a Balance Sheet? Where can I find my Balance Sheet?
- A Trial Balance Report is used to list the sums of all your categories’ and parent accounts’ debit and credits to ensure everything balances, in preparation for producing financial statements the end of an accounting period. This is often used internally in your business.
- A Balance Sheet reports a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity at a point in time. It is used as a basis to calculate rates of return for investors, provides a snapshot of what a company owns and owes, and shows the amount invested by shareholders. You can learn more about the Balance Sheet here.