OxfordAQA IGCSE Accounting: Verification of double entry records and the trial balance (9215)

This guide follows the OxfordAQA International GCSE Accounting (9215) specification, version 1.2, for International GCSE exams May/June 2026 onwards. It covers the first two content points of section 3.2 Verification of accounting records: verification of the double entry records, and preparing and understanding the use of a trial balance. All amounts in this guide are in dollars.

Related pages: the Verification of accounting records study guide covers control accounts, bank reconciliation, the journal and the suspense account, and the revision notes and practice set cover the whole topic. For this unit only, use the trial balance revision notes and the trial balance practice questions. Recording transactions is in the sources and recording of data guide. Course hub: OxfordAQA IGCSE Accounting. Printable list: checklist. To find weak spots first, take a free diagnostic.

What this unit covers

Specification point	What you must be able to do	Where here
Verification of the double entry records	Name the four verification techniques, starting with the trial balance	Section 1
Prepare a trial balance	Build one from a list of balances	Section 2
Correct a trial balance	Find and fix errors that stop the totals agreeing	Section 3
Use and limitations	Explain what it shows and what it cannot show	Sections 4 and 5
Errors not revealed	Commission, complete reversal, compensating, omission, original entry, principle	Section 4
Errors revealed	Addition, partial omission, transposition, unequal posting	Section 5

1. Why records are verified

Under double entry, each transaction is entered as equal and opposite debit and credit amounts in two accounts. Mistakes still happen when entries are made, copied or added up. Verification means checking the records for accuracy. The specification lists four techniques:

• Trial balance: checks that total debit balances equal total credit balances.
• Trade receivables ledger control accounts: checks the total owed by credit customers against the individual customer accounts.
• Trade payables ledger control account: does the same for amounts owed to suppliers.
• Bank reconciliation statement: checks the cash book against the bank statement.

This guide deals with the first. The other three are in the topic guide linked above. Each technique tests a different part of the records, so passing one does not excuse you from the others.

2. Preparing a trial balance from a list of balances

A trial balance is a list of all ledger account balances at one date, split into a debit column and a credit column. If every entry had two equal sides, the two columns add to the same total.

First place each balance on the correct side. Use the nature of the account.

Debit balances	Credit balances
Assets: equipment, motor vehicles, trade receivables, bank (in funds), cash	Capital
Expenses: wages, rent, insurance	Income: sales, fees income
Purchases and returns inwards	Returns outwards
Drawings	Liabilities: trade payables, loans, bank overdraft
Inventory at the start of the period

Method:

1. Write the heading with the business name and the date.
2. Go down the list and put each balance in the debit or credit column.
3. Add each column separately.
4. Compare the totals.

Worked example: Brelow Candle Works

Balances at 30 June, in the order the bookkeeper found them: bank loan 12,000; wages 14,800; equipment 18,400; sales 71,500; trade payables 5,150; inventory at 1 July 4,150; capital 28,500; purchases 41,900; rent 5,400; trade receivables 6,320; insurance 1,125; motor van 12,600; drawings 9,000; returns outwards 1,350; bank 3,275 (in funds); returns inwards 1,150; cash 380.

Trial balance of Brelow Candle Works at 30 June

Account	Debit	Credit
Equipment	18,400
Motor van	12,600
Inventory at 1 July	4,150
Trade receivables	6,320
Bank	3,275
Cash	380
Purchases	41,900
Returns inwards	1,150
Wages	14,800
Rent	5,400
Insurance	1,125
Drawings	9,000
Sales		71,500
Returns outwards		1,350
Trade payables		5,150
Bank loan		12,000
Capital		28,500
Totals	118,500	118,500

The columns agree, so the arithmetic of the double entry is consistent. The inventory shown is the opening figure from the ledger, not a closing count.

3. Correcting a trial balance that does not agree

If the totals differ, an error exists somewhere. Do not force the totals to match. Look for the cause. The size of the difference gives clues:

Clue	Possible cause
Difference is exactly twice one balance	That balance was put in the wrong column
Difference equals one balance	That balance was left off the list, or only one side of an entry was posted
Difference divides exactly by 9	Two digits may have been swapped (transposition)
Difference is a round amount such as 100 or 1,000	A column or ledger account may have been added wrongly

These are only clues. Confirm each one by checking the balance back to its ledger account.

Worked example: Orsolo Tutoring

A trainee prepared a draft trial balance. The debit column totalled 53,310 and the credit column totalled 50,150. Checking each balance back to the ledger found three slips:

1. Telephone, correct balance 480, was entered as 840.
2. Trade payables, 1,850, was entered in the debit column.
3. Insurance, 900, was missed off the list.

Step 1: difference = 53,310 − 50,150 = 3,160 (debit column too high).

Step 2: effect of each slip on the debit column and credit column.

Slip	Debit column	Credit column
Telephone 840 not 480	360 too high	no change
Payables in debit column	1,850 too high	1,850 too low
Insurance missed off	900 too low	no change

Step 3: apply the corrections.

	Debit column	Credit column
Draft totals	53,310	50,150
Telephone: subtract 360	(360)
Payables: subtract 1,850 from debit, add 1,850 to credit	(1,850)	1,850
Insurance: add 900	900
Corrected totals	52,000	52,000

Check: 360 + 1,850 + 1,850 − 900 = 3,160, which is the original difference. Leaving a balance off a list is a slip in the trial balance, not the ledger error called omission in section 4. The ledger was right here.

4. Use and limitations: errors the trial balance does not reveal

Uses of a trial balance:

• It gives a quick arithmetic check on the double entry.
• It shows that debits equal credits, which is a necessary condition for correct records.
• It provides the list of balances from which the financial statements are drawn up.

The limitation is that it only compares totals. An error that keeps the debit total equal to the credit total passes unseen. Six such errors are named in the specification.

Error	What happens	Example	Totals still agree?
Commission	Right class of account, wrong account	A 360 sale to Mr Haldane is debited to the account of Mr Haldain	Yes
Complete reversal	Right accounts and amount, but debit and credit swapped	Cash of 540 received from a customer is debited to the customer and credited to bank	Yes
Compensating	Two separate errors of equal size, one on each side, cancel out	Rent account overadded by 150 and fees received account overadded by 150	Yes
Omission	A transaction is left out of the books altogether	A supplier invoice for 620 is never recorded	Yes
Original entry	Wrong amount taken from the source document, then posted correctly to both accounts	An invoice for 1,780 is read as 1,870	Yes
Principle	Posted to the wrong class of account	A printer costing 950 is debited to office expenses instead of a non-current assets account	Yes

Compare the pairs that look alike. In a complete reversal the amount is right but both sides are swapped. In original entry the sides are right but the amount is wrong on both. In commission the class of account is right, but in principle the class is wrong (an expense account where an asset belongs, for example).

So a trial balance that agrees shows only that the two totals match. It does not prove that every entry is complete, correctly valued, in the right account or in the right class.

5. Errors the trial balance does reveal

These four errors destroy the equality of the two totals, so the columns disagree.

Error	What happens	Example	Which total is higher?
Addition	A ledger account or column is added up wrongly	The wages account is undercast by 250	Credit column, by 250
Partial omission	One side of a transaction is recorded and the other is not	A payment of 360 to a supplier is credited to bank but never debited to the supplier	Credit column, by 360
Transposition	Digits are swapped when copying a figure	Sales of 4,530 are debited to the customer correctly but credited to sales as 4,350	Debit column, by 180
Unequal posting	Different amounts are posted to the debit and the credit	An expense is debited as 2,600 but the bank is credited with 2,000	Debit column, by 600

Transposition differences always divide by 9, which is why that clue helps. Do not assume the reverse: a difference that divides by 9 may have another cause.

Worked example: deciding what the trial balance will show

Ask two questions of any error. First, does it affect the debit total and the credit total equally, or only one? Second, which total moves, and by how much?

Case: purchases on credit of 1,500 are credited to the supplier’s account but the debit to purchases is missed. Only the credit side has been recorded, so credits exceed debits by 1,500. This is partial omission, and the trial balance will reveal it.

Case: the same purchase is entered in neither account. Both totals are missing the same 1,500 of activity, so they still agree. This is omission, and the trial balance will not reveal it.

Common errors in answers

• Saying a trial balance proves the accounts are accurate. It proves only that totals agree.
• Placing a bank overdraft in the debit column. It is a liability and belongs on the credit side.
• Mixing up omission (nothing recorded) and partial omission (one side recorded).
• Calling a balance left off the trial balance list an error of omission.
• Naming the error without stating whether the totals would still agree.
• Adding the columns of a draft trial balance wrongly, then hunting for a ledger error that does not exist. Add both columns twice.

Next steps

Test yourself with the trial balance revision notes, then attempt the practice questions. Tick off topics on the checklist and see all free diagnostics.

Frequently asked questions

What is a trial balance in IGCSE Accounting? A trial balance is a list of all ledger account balances at a date, set out in debit and credit columns. If the two totals agree, the arithmetic of the double entry is correct; in OxfordAQA 9215 it is one of four verification techniques, alongside the two ledger control accounts and the bank reconciliation statement.

What are the uses and limitations of a trial balance? A trial balance gives a quick arithmetic check on the double entry and a convenient list of balances for preparing financial statements. Its limitation is that it only compares totals, so errors such as omission, commission or principle are not revealed.

How do you correct a trial balance that does not agree? Work out the difference between the two totals, then trace each error and calculate its effect on the debit or credit column. Applying the corrections should remove the whole difference, which is your check.

Why do transposition differences divide by 9? Swapping two digits changes a number by a multiple of 9, for example 840 instead of 480 is a difference of 360. This is why a trial balance difference divisible by 9 is a clue to a transposition.

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International GCSE Accounting (9215), specification version 1.2, section 3.2 Verification of accounting records, published by OxfordAQA.