Clarify the meaning of Trial Balance.

Trial Balance is a statement prepared at the end of an accounting period to ensure the arithmetical accuracy of ledger accounts. It lists the debit and credit balances of all accounts (real, personal, and nominal) in a two-column format, where the total of debit balances equals the total of credit balances.

Its primary purpose is to verify that:

• All ledger accounts are included.
• No posting or casting errors exist.

However, it cannot detect errors like:

• Complete omission of a transaction.
• Incorrect classification (e.g., treating an asset as an expense).
• Compensating errors (where two errors cancel each other out).

Thus, it serves as a preliminary check before preparing the final accounts.