Trial balance template

A single list of every account in your ledger and its balance on a chosen date, each in the debit or the credit column. The two totals should agree before you build reports from the figures.

By Book Keeping Pros
Sources checked 15 Oct 2026

A trial balance lists the balance of every general ledger account on one date, with each balance in either the debit column or the credit column. business.gov.au's glossary explains double-entry bookkeeping as recording every transaction both as a debit in one account and as a credit in another, so when the ledger is complete and its arithmetic is sound, the two columns reach the same total.

This template adds a code and a group to each line. The code keeps the list in the same order as your chart of accounts. The group, which is asset, liability, equity, income or expense, shows which balances feed the balance sheet and which the profit and loss statement, and lets you spot a balance sitting on its unusual side. Matching totals show the arithmetic holds, but an amount posted to the wrong account, or left out on both sides, still leaves them equal, so read the list line by line as well.

Take it when a period closes: a month end, or 30 June, the last day of the Australian financial year in business.gov.au's glossary. Income and expense balances build up from the start of the financial year, so at a month end they show the year to date, not just that month. For a company, the Corporations Act counts the working papers needed to explain how its financial statements are made up and adjusted among the financial records it must keep for 7 years after the transactions are completed. The file is a CSV that opens in a spreadsheet program.

Download the template

The template as a CSV file, which opens in any spreadsheet program.

Download the CSV file

What's in the template

Illustrative example: the rows of the trial balance template
Account code	Account name	Group	Debit (AUD)	Credit (AUD)
1-1000	Business bank account	Asset	14,620.00
1-1200	Accounts receivable	Asset	6,380.00
1-2000	Equipment	Asset	9,500.00
2-1000	Accounts payable	Liability		3,145.00
2-1100	Business credit card	Liability		1,262.40
3-1000	Owner's capital	Equity		16,779.00
3-1100	Owner's drawings	Equity	18,000.00
4-1000	Sales	Income		92,600.00
6-1100	Bank fees	Expense	386.40
6-1500	Rent	Expense	26,400.00
6-2000	Wages and salaries	Expense	38,500.00
	Total		113,786.40	113,786.40

Illustrative example only: these rows show the method and are not sourced data.

What goes in each column

Account code: The account's code from your chart of accounts, which keeps the list in the same order every time.
Account name: The account's name as it appears in the general ledger.
Group: Asset, Liability, Equity, Income or Expense, which tells you the report the balance feeds and, for most accounts, the side it usually sits on; owner's drawings sit in Equity but are usually a debit.
Debit (AUD): The account's balance when it is a debit, which is usual for assets, expenses and the owner's drawings.
Credit (AUD): The account's balance when it is a credit, which is usual for liabilities, income and the owner's capital.

How to use it

Choose the date and bring the books up to it: enter the period's sales, bills and payments, and reconcile the bank and credit card accounts first.
Replace the example lines with every ledger account that has a balance at that date, in code order, and put each balance in one column only.
Add up both columns. The file holds example figures rather than formulas, so the totals need working out from your own lines.
If the totals differ, add them again and compare each amount and its debit or credit position with the actual ledger balance. Investigate an unusual balance rather than moving it to its usual side, and look for accounts left off the list or copied wrongly.
When the totals agree, compare the bank and card balances with your reconciliations, and receivables and payables with your lists of unpaid invoices and bills. Correct any error with an entry that says what was wrong, then take the trial balance again.
Keep the final version with the records for that period.

Related terms

Sources

Key financial terms
business.gov.au, Australian Government. Current at 15 October 2026, released 9 July 2024. Checked 15 October 2026.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2020, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU. Licence: CC BY 3.0 AU.
Corporations Act 2001, sections 9 and 286
Federal Register of Legislation, Office of Parliamentary Counsel. Compilation No. 149, 19 September 2026, released 19 September 2026. Checked 15 October 2026.
Based on content from the Federal Register of Legislation at 15 October 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

Related guides

How to do a trial balance
How to prepare a trial balance step by step: get the books up to date, list every balance, total both columns, track down a difference and review each account.
Double-entry bookkeeping explained
How double-entry bookkeeping works as a system: the accounting equation, why the books balance, how one ledger gives two statements and how errors show up.
How to prepare a balance sheet
How to build a balance sheet from your books: choose the date, prove each balance against outside records, group the accounts and check that it balances.