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Using the Trial Balance Report

Tapping Trial Balance in the Other Reports screen displays the report. From this screen, you can

  • Change the date of the report.
  • Add another date to the report as a comparison.
  • Send the report by email, print it or open it in another app.
What does the report show?

The trial balance report lists all your accounts and their balances on a particular date. Each account shows either a debit balance value or a credit balance value, listed in either the debit column (Dr) or credit (Cr) column.

The purpose of a trial balance is to prove that the value of all the debit value balances equals the total of all the credit value balances. If the total of the two columns differ, this would indicate an error in the accounts. Since every transaction in EasyBooks is a double-entry between two accounts there should never be a difference in these totals. However, it is possible to make errors in the initial setup of your opening balances. If you see the line Opening Balances in your report, read on to find out more.

What does the line "Opening Balances" indicate?

It is possible to make errors in the initial setup of opening balances such that your accounts are not in balance. If this is the case, EasyBooks will show a line labelled Opening Balances at the end of the report together with the amount needed to bring the accounts back into balance. You should review your opening balances if this line appears.

Every transaction moves money from one account to another without loss. For example, if you pay dividends, you will normally pay these as a transaction between your Bank account and one of your Capital / Net Worth accounts, such as your Retained profit account. The balance of both accounts is affected by the same amount because the double-entry system is managed by EasyBooks. This is not the case for your Opening Balances. If you are setting opening balances, be careful to use the correct figures for all accounts so the accounts are still in balance. Use the Trial Balance report to check. If the Opening Balances line appears, your accounts are not balanced.

How does EasyBooks pick the initial date for the report?

The Next P&L Consolidation date from your Business Settings is used as the date of the report. If this date has not yet passed, the reports uses current date instead.

How do I view a previous year's report?

Use the back and forward buttons to change the report date quickly to the previous or next financial period. The report will run for the last date of the financial period selected.

Options in the settings Menu:
  • Change Date - You can set the date to run the report for a different point in time.
  • Add Comparison - Add a comparison report using this option. This is typically used to compare accounts from one financial year with another.
  • Comparison Date - You can set the date to run the comparison report for a different point in time.
  • Show Contained - If you have any accounts under a container account, only the total for the container is presented in the report. Use this option to show all the individual accounts. For information about container accounts, see Account Settings.
  • Show Nil Accounts - By default the report shows only accounts with a non-zero balance. Use this option to show all accounts, including those with a zero balance.
Options in the action Menu:

This button is used to send or print the report. It uses the standard Apple sharing panel and allows you to send the report by email or AirDrop, print it to an Airprint-compatible printer or send it to another app such as Dropbox. Three file formats of the report are available.

  • As shown (HTML) - The HTML format will open in a web browser.
  • Comma separated (CSV) - The CSV format contains the same information and is more suited to importing into a spreadsheet.
  • Both (ZIP) - The ZIP format contains both the HTML and CSV files compressed into a single zip file.