What is an adjusted trial balance?
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 9:23AM An adjusted trial balance is an unadjusted trial balance to which adjusting entries have been made, both to correct errors in the initial version of the trial balance and to add journal entries that will bring the entity's financial statements into compliance with an accounting framework, such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or International Financial Reporting Standards.
Once all adjustments have been made, the adjusted trial balance is essentially a summary-balance listing of all the accounts in the general ledger - it does not show any detail transactions that comprise the ending balances in any accounts. Also, the adjusting entries are shown in a separate column, but in aggregate for each account; thus, it may be difficult to discern which specific journal entries impact each account.
The adjusted trial balance is not part of the financial statements - rather, it is an internal report that has two purposes:
- To verify that the total of the debit balances in all accounts equals the total of all credit balances in all accounts
- To be used to construct financial statements (specifically, the income statement and balance sheet; construction of the statement of cash flows requires additional information)
The second application of the adjusted trial balance has fallen into disuse, since computerized accounting systems automatically construct financial statements. However, it is the source document if you are manually compiling financial statements. In the latter case, the adjusted trial balance is critically important - financial statements cannot be constructed without it.
Example of an Adjusted Trial Balance
The following report shows an adjusted trial balance, where the initial, unadjusted balance for all accounts is located in the second column from the left, various adjusting entries are noted in the third column from the left, and the combined, net balance in each account is stated in the far right column.
ABC International
Trial Balance
July 31, 20XX
| Unadjusted Trial Balance |
Adjusting Entries |
Adjusted Trial Balance |
|
| Cash | $60,000 | $60,000 | |
| Accounts receivable | 180,000 | 50,000 | 230,000 |
| Inventory | 300,000 | 300,000 | |
| Fixed assets (net) | 210,000 | 210,000 | |
| Accounts payable | (90,000) | (90,000) | |
| Accrued liabilities | (50,000) | $(25,000) | (75,000) |
| Notes payable | (420,000) | (420,000) | |
| Equity | (350,000) | (350,000) | |
| Revenue | (400,000) | (50,000) | (450,000) |
| Cost of goods sold | 290,000 | 290,000 | |
| Salaries | 200,000 | 25,000 | 225,000 |
| Payroll taxes | 20,000 | 20,000 | |
| Rent | 35,000 | 35,000< | |
| Other expenses | 15,000 | 15,000 | |
| Total | $0 | $0 | $0 |
The adjusting entries in the example are for the accrual of $25,000 in salaries that were unpaid as of the end of July, as well as for $50,000 of earned but unbilled sales.
Related Topics
General journal
The trial balance
Trial balance errors
What is a post-closing trial balance?
What is an unadjusted trial balance?
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