How to use the Trial Balance

The Trial Balance for your business shows the closing balances of all general ledger (GL) accounts, for each company, per the end of the selected financial period. You can use this to reconcile the reported numbers against your accounting systems.

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to use the Trial Balance. For more detailed instructions, click here.

1. How to Start

You will find the Trial Balance report in Essentials -> Report.

Click on the field behind the Run button, and select the desired financial period from the dropdown menu.

Click on the Run button to retrieve the latest version of your Trial Balance report.

2. Choose a layout

The report gives you a snapshot of all balances per GL account. The Trial Balance report offers many different ways (we call them Layouts) to view your numbers. You can freely switch between all layouts, and even personalize them.

3. Filter the data

You can make the report show only the information that matters to you. For example, you can filter the report to show just one department, one company, or one financial period. To filter the report, use the filters on the top of every layout. To show all data, simply leave the filters empty.

4. Choose from Actions

When running a report, you can click the Actions button in the right-top of the screen to open a dropdown menu with further options:

• Change layout
• Export to Excel or PDF file
• Print the report
• Add to dashboard

5. Change the layout

To change the layout, click the Actions button in the top right corner of the screen, and then select Change layout. You will see a list of all available fields in the report, which you can drag and drop into the desired section in the report. For more detailed instructions on changing a report layout, click here.

6. Export to Excel or PDF

To export the current layout to Excel, or to a PDF file, or to print it, click the Actions button in the top right corner of the screen, and then select Export data or print.

You can export the report to a large variety of file formats, Excel and PDF being the most often used.

7. Add to dashboard

To add the current layout to your personal dashboard, click the Actions button in the top right corner of the screen, and then select Add to dashboard.

You can add the report to an existing dashboard, or create a new dashboard.

By following these steps, you'll be able to understand and reconcile your account balances and have confidence in the numbers that will roll into your reports and planner models.

If you like to read more detailed instructions, click here.