This is a revision lesson in the form of discussion between teacher and his students. The topic of discussion or revision is centered on the question – what is the difference between trial balance and balance sheet?
Teacher: Last class we discussed the statement of financial position
Class (chorus): Yes sir!
Teacher And we discussed the trial balance earlier on.
Class (chorus): Yes sir!
Teacher Can we take some questions about them to refresh our memories?
Ade That I think will be nice, sir.
Teacher Both trial balance and statement of financial position must balance at any point in time. Is it true, Mike?
Mike Yes, sir. If any of them refuses to balance, then the difference is thrown to a suspense account to temporarily balance it. Thereafter, an examination of the relevant records can then be carried out to ascertain the cause or causes of difference.
Teacher Do you agree with that, Rosemary?
Rosemary Yes I do
Teacher And …
Rosemary In addition, journal entries will have to be made to enter the observed errors and thereafter prepare a suspense account
Teacher And what do you do with Rosemary’s submission, Kate?
Kate The journal entries will be used to prepare a revised trial balance or revised statement of financial position as the case may be.
Teacher Now, what are the differences between them, Simon?
Simon There is quite a number of differences between them depending on the headings or classification
Teacher Tell us the difference between the two based on purpose of preparation.
Simon The trial balance is prepared to test the arithmetical accuracy of all entries in the ledgers while the statement of financial position is prepared to shown the financial position of an entity at a given date.
Teacher Sam! What about the underlying principle?
Sam The underlying principle of preparing the statement of financial position is the accounting equation, which is based on the dual concept of accounting.
Meanwhile, the underlying principle of preparing the trial balance is the double entry principle, which must be complied with while preparing the ledgers
Teacher Musa!
Musa Sir!
Teacher What do you have to say as a difference between the trial balance and a statement of financial position based on their outlook?
Musa The statement of financial position is a statement of affairs of an entity, showing the resources owned by the entity and the claims against the resources at any given date. On the contrary, a trial balance is a list of balances extracted from the respective ledgers based on the posted transactions.
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