Closing the books on an accounting period is a lengthy and complex process. No matter how complex, it needs to start somewhere. For every company, big or small, it starts with a trial balance. This is ...

Businesses use trial balance sheets to calculate the monthly debits and credits posted in their general ledgers. Debits are the money a business spends or loses, while credits are the money a business ...

The general ledger is a central location for recording all of the financial activity for your business. Accurate ledger activity is essential to ensuring that the financial statements for each period ...

Joseph Nguyen is a contributing author at Investopedia and a research analyst with experience at a securities brokerage firm. Charlene Rhinehart is a CPA , CFE, chair of an Illinois CPA Society ...

Every publicly traded company issues a series of financial statements at least on a quarterly basis, and the balance sheet is perhaps the statement most indicative of a company’s financial health. A ...

Balance sheets consist of assets, liabilities, and shareholders' equity, revealing financial health. Shareholders' equity equals assets minus liabilities and reflects theoretical investor value if a ...