Trial balance
The trial balance summarizes, for each account, the total debit, the total credit and the balance — debit or credit. It is the overall snapshot of your accounting: it verifies the overall balance and serves as the basis for closing and declaration.
Overview
The trial balance is a summary statement that lists all your active accounts and, for each one, accumulates the total debit and the total credit. The difference gives the account's balance: debit when debits are higher, credit when credits are higher.
What the trial balance provides
- An overview of all accounts
- The balance of each account at a glance
- Verification of the overall balance
- The basis for closings and declarations
Target audience
- Accountant — control and review
- Finance manager — balance analysis
- Executive — summary reading
A statement built on its own
The trial balance is calculated automatically from the entries: it aggregates the general ledger account by account, with no input needed from you.
The trial balance
Each row corresponds to an account. The first two columns accumulate the movements (debits, credits); the last two present the balance, split according to its side. The totals row closes the table and is used for the balance check.
| Account | Label | Total debit | Total credit | Debit balance | Credit balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 411 | Customers | 18,500.000 | 12,000.000 | 6,500.000 | — |
| 401 | Suppliers | 9,000.000 | 14,200.000 | — | 5,200.000 |
| 532 | Bank | 22,000.000 | 15,800.000 | 6,200.000 | — |
| 701 | Sales of goods | 0.000 | 16,000.000 | — | 16,000.000 |
| 601 | Purchases of goods | 7,300.000 | 0.000 | 7,300.000 | — |
| Totals | 56,800.000 | 56,800.000 | 20,000.000 | 20,000.000 | |
An account has only one balance side at a time: either debit or credit. The unused column stays empty (—) for immediate reading.
General trial balance & auxiliary trial balance
Swifto offers two levels of detail. The general trial balance lists the accounts of the chart of accounts. The auxiliary trial balance goes one level deeper: it breaks down the collective accounts (411 Customers, 401 Suppliers) third party by third party, so you know the balance of each customer or supplier.
General trial balance
One balance per account of the chart of accounts. Ideal for the overview and summary statements.
Auxiliary trial balance
The breakdown by third party of a collective account: the balance owed by each customer, or owed to each supplier.
| Third party (account 411 Customers) | Total debit | Total credit | Debit balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Société Alpha | 9,000.000 | 6,000.000 | 3,000.000 |
| Boutique Beta | 5,500.000 | 4,000.000 | 1,500.000 |
| Gamma SARL | 4,000.000 | 2,000.000 | 2,000.000 |
| Total account 411 | 18,500.000 | 12,000.000 | 6,500.000 |
The total of the auxiliary trial balance of a collective account is always equal to the balance of that account in the general trial balance: the third-party breakdown and the overall view are consistent.
Filter by class
To focus on a family of accounts, you can display only one class at a time (from 1 to 7). The first digit of the number gives the nature of the account: this lets you quickly isolate third parties, treasury, expenses or income.
| Class | What the filter shows |
|---|---|
| 1 | Equity & liabilities (capital, reserves, net income, loans). |
| 2 | Fixed assets (equipment, furniture, depreciation). |
| 3 | Stock (goods, materials, finished products). |
| 4 | Third-party accounts (customers, suppliers, State & VAT). |
| 5 | Financial accounts (bank, cash register). |
| 6 | Expenses (purchases, services, personnel). |
| 7 | Income (sales, operating income). |
Filtering on classes 6 and 7 is like reading your income statement at a glance: expenses on one side, income on the other.
The balance check
Double-entry accounting is balanced by nature. The trial balance verifies this through two equalities: the total debit must equal the total credit, and the total debit balances must equal the total credit balances. When these conditions are met, Swifto displays a confirmation badge.
Equality of movements
The sum of all debits is identical to the sum of all credits.
Equality of balances
The total of debit balances equals the total of credit balances.
The "Balanced" badge confirms overall consistency. An unbalanced trial balance signals an anomaly to investigate before any closing or declaration.
Export
The displayed trial balance can be exported to be archived, printed or sent to your accountant. Two formats are available.
Document ready to print or send, with formatting faithful to the screen.
Excel
Spreadsheet ready for your calculations, checks or reprocessing.
The export reflects the statement exactly as displayed: the active trial balance type (general or auxiliary) and class filter are respected in the file.
Business rules
Only validated entries count — the trial balance aggregates only validated entries; drafts do not enter the totals.
A balanced trial balance is healthy — Debit = Credit and Debit balances = Credit balances: this is the sign of consistent accounting.
An imbalance signals an anomaly — if the totals do not match, a voucher needs to be examined before going any further.
Basis for closing and declaration — do not perform a closing or a declaration on an unbalanced trial balance.
FAQ & Tips
What's the difference between the trial balance and the general ledger?
The general ledger details every movement of an account; the trial balance gives its summary: a single total debit, a single total credit, one balance per account.
My trial balance is unbalanced, what should I do?
This signals an anomaly: review the recent entries (via the general ledger) to locate the voucher at fault before closing.
Why does the same account have only one balance?
The balance is the difference between debits and credits: it is debit or credit, never both. The opposite column stays empty.
Tip — check the trial balance before every declaration
A quick read of the trial balance (balanced badge + third-party balances) avoids a lot of surprises when it's time to close or file the DMI.
