When a Trial Balance disagrees, an attempt must be made to locate the errors and rectify them. If all errors are rectified and the Trial Balance is revised, it will tally.

The following routine procedure is usually adopted for locating the errors.

a)Check the totals of both the debit and the credit columns of the Trial Balance.

b)If the difference still persists, ascertain the exact amount of difference; and then

i.See whether an account having that balance has been omitted from the Trial Balance. Suppose the debit column in Trial Balance is short by R.s. 630, it is just possible that an account with a debit balance of R.s. 630 has not been entered in the Trial Balance.

ii.Check whether an account with a balance equal to that difference has been entered twice in the Trial Balance.

iii.Take the half amount of difference, see whether there is any account with such balance in the Trial Balance and, if so, check whether it is entered in the correct column or not. If an account with a debit balance of R.s. 315 has been entered in the credit column, the debit column becomes short by Rs. 630.

c)Verify whether

1. The balances of all the accounts are included in the Trial Balance,
2. They are entered in the correct column, and
3. Their amounts have been correctly written.

If no errors are found upto this stage, or the errors located have been duly corrected, but still the Trial Balance does not tally, there is need to take further action. You may take the following steps:

d)Check the totals of the lists of sundry debtors and sundry creditors.

e)Check the totals and balances of all accounts in the ledger. 

f)Check the totals and the postings of all subsidiary books.

g)Check the postings of all amounts equal to the difference in Trial Balance. It is possible that a posting has been omitted. Similarly, check the postings of all amounts equal to half the difference. It is possible that the amount has been posted on the wrong side of the concerned account.

h)See that correct amounts have been brought forward from the previous pages.

i)Verify that all opening balances have been correctly entered in various accounts.

j)Compare the current year's Trial Balance with that of the previous year. Any variation noticed should be carefully checked.

The procedure outlined above, if carefully followed, should normally reveal all the errors. The errors are then rectified and a Revised Trial Balance is prepared. If no other errors exist, the Revised Trial Balance is likely to tally. However, if the Revised Trial Balance also does not tally, there is no alternative but to recheck the entire accounting work done during the year. Sometimes, all these efforts fail to reveal the errors. In such a situation, the difference may be placed to the debit or credit of a Suspense Account (as the case may be) and you may proceed with the preparation of the final accounts. Later on, as and when the errors come to light, they will be corrected through proper rectifying entries in the journal.