Post ledger accounts and prepare a trial balance
Transfer entries from prime-entry books to ledgers, balance the accounts and test the arithmetic with a trial balance.
Cambridge International AS & A Level Accounting 9706, 2026–2028 syllabus, Version 2. These lessons cover Topic 1.2 only. The 2029 syllabus has a separate document and is not mapped here. Practice is self-checked, not an official Cambridge grade; timed-paper practice and human subject-teacher review remain outstanding.
Before you begin
- Topic 1.1 introduces business forms and finance. In these lessons, keep each transaction tied to its source evidence and record both sides of its effect.
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Where are individual supplier balances normally kept?
What you will learn
- Post entries to personal and nominal ledger accounts
- Balance an account at a date
- Prepare and interpret a trial balance
Ledgers collect transactions by account
The sales ledger contains individual customer accounts; the purchases ledger contains supplier accounts; the nominal ledger groups accounts such as sales, rent, inventory and bank. Posting links the first-entry record to the accounts affected.
A ledger account balance is the difference between its debit and credit totals. Carry the balance down to the next period and bring it forward on the opposite side so the account remains in balance.
Complete records make it easier to prepare statements, trace transactions, monitor amounts due and investigate errors. Keeping them also takes staff time, training and system resources; the benefits need to justify the cost for the organisation.
A trial balance checks arithmetic, not truth
A trial balance lists ledger balances on debit or credit sides. Equal totals provide evidence that total debits equal total credits, but not that each transaction is complete, supported or recorded in the correct accounts.
Errors such as omission, commission or principle may leave the trial balance equal. Compare records with source documents and reconciliations when checking accuracy.
Pause and explain
A trial balance's debit and credit totals agree. What has been established?
Worked example
A supplier account is credited $800 for an invoice and debited $300 for a bank payment. Find the closing balance and side.
Show the worked solution
- The supplier has a credit total of $800 and a debit total of $300.
- The difference is $800 − $300 = $500.
- The remaining amount is owed to the supplier, so the balance is credit.
Answer The supplier account has a $500 credit balance: the business still owes $500.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
A customer account has debits of $1,250 and credits of $900. Find the balance and interpret it.
Give me a hint
Subtract the smaller side from the larger and identify what a debit means for a customer.
Compare my reasoning
- Difference = 1,250 − 900 = $350.
- The larger side is debit, so the balance is debit.
- The customer still owes the business $350.
The account has a $350 debit balance, a receivable from the customer.
Look for these in your work
- Difference calculated
- Side stated
- Meaning interpreted
A nominal ledger account has debit entries of $2,400 and credit entries of $3,100. State the balance and side on which it is shown in a trial balance.
Give me a hint
The balance is the difference; use the larger side.
Compare my reasoning
- 3,100 − 2,400 = $700.
- Credits are larger, so the closing balance is credit.
- Show $700 on the credit side of the trial balance.
$700 credit, shown in the trial balance's credit column.
Look for these in your work
- Difference correct
- Side correct
- Trial balance column correct
A supplier invoice is posted to the wrong supplier's account but Purchases and Payables totals still balance. Could the trial balance reveal the mistake?
Give me a hint
Check whether the error changed total debits or credits.
Compare my reasoning
- Both supplier balances are within the purchases ledger.
- Posting the same credit to a different supplier may leave total credits unchanged.
- The trial balance can agree; compare supplier statements and source invoices to find the error.
Not necessarily. The wrong supplier may be credited by the same amount, so the trial-balance totals still agree. Supplier statements and invoices help verify the individual account.
Look for these in your work
- Totals considered
- Limitation explained
- Verification method named
Common mistakes
- Showing a receivable as a liability
- Balancing an account on the same side as its larger total
- Treating trial-balance agreement as evidence that source documents were checked
What can you explain now?
A customer owes $250 at period end. Is the customer's balance normally debit or credit in the sales ledger?
Compare with the explanation
Debit
The customer is a receivable; amounts owed by customers have debit balances.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
Your review choice appears on Today. Sign in to sync it across devices.
Make it stick
What does an equal trial balance tell you, and name one thing it cannot prove.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.