A trial balance is a list and total of all the debit and credit accounts for an entity for a given period – usually a month. The format of the trial balance is a two-column schedule with all the debit balances listed in one column and all the credit balances listed in the other. The trial balance is prepared after all the transactions for the period have been journalized and posted to the General Ledger.

Key to preparing a trial balance is making sure that all the account balances are listed under the correct column. The appropriate columns are as follows:

Assets = Debit balance
Liabilities = Credit balance
Expenses = Debit Balance
Equity = Credit balance
Revenue = Credit balance

Should an account have a negative balance, it is represented as a negative number in the appropriate column. For example, if the company is $500 into the overdraft in the checking account the balance would be entered as -$500 or ($500) in the debit column. The $500 negative balance is NOT listed in the credit column.