CBSE
Trial Balance: Class 11 Practice in TS Grewal Chapter 14 Style
In the 2025-26 TS Grewal Class 11 edition, Trial Balance is Chapter 14. Below are original questions on preparing a trial balance from ledger balances, finding capital as the balancing figure, placing awkward items like overdrafts and returns in the right column, and spotting the errors an agreed trial balance cannot catch, all fully worked.
A trial balance question is free marks if your ledger knowledge is solid, and a slow puncture if it is not. In the 2025-26 TS Grewal edition this is Chapter 14, coming after the ledger and the subsidiary books. These original questions cover the whole examinable range: building a trial balance from a list of balances, deriving capital as the balancing figure, placing the trick items like overdrafts and returns, explaining the four errors an agreed trial balance hides, and using the doubling test to trace a difference. Each addition below is shown figure by figure, so check your running totals against mine as you go.
Which column each balance belongs in
Everything in a trial balance follows from the nature of the account. Debit column: assets of every kind, expenses and losses, drawings, and sales returns. Credit column: liabilities including bank overdraft, capital, incomes and gains, purchases returns, and provisions such as provision for doubtful debts. The pairs that reverse student expectations are the returns, which always take the opposite column of their parent account, and the overdraft, which is a bank balance that belongs to the bank. Opening stock sits in the debit column, but closing stock normally stays out of the trial balance entirely, because it is not a ledger balance yet; it is a valuation made after the books close. If you can place all eight items in question 3 below without pausing, the preparation questions become pure addition.
What an agreed trial balance proves, and what it cannot
Agreement proves one thing only: the total of debit balances equals the total of credit balances, so the arithmetic of posting and balancing is internally consistent. It does not prove the books are correct. Four whole families of error leave the totals untouched: complete omission, where a transaction was never recorded on either side; errors of principle, where an amount sits in the wrong class of account but on the correct side, like repairs debited to Machinery; errors of commission, where the right side of the wrong personal account is used; and compensating errors that cancel each other out. CBSE-pattern papers use this as a 3 or 4 mark theory question, and the route to full marks is naming each error type and then saying explicitly why the two column totals still agree, which is what the model answer in question 4 does.
Tracing a difference fast
When your columns disagree in an exam, do not re-add everything from scratch. Find the difference first. If it divides by two, halve it and search for a balance of that size sitting in the wrong column, which is the situation in question 5. If it divides by nine, suspect a transposition, such as 2,700 written as 7,200. If it equals a whole balance from the list, an item was probably left out altogether. Check the column additions last, not first. This search order follows from how each error actually distorts the totals, and stating the test you are applying, for example the difference is twice Rs 2,700 so I am looking for a wrongly placed Rs 2,700 balance, earns method marks even before you find the culprit. Practise the order twice and it sticks.
Worked questions, step by step
From these balances on 31 March 2026, prepare a trial balance: capital Rs 3,00,000; machinery Rs 1,80,000; furniture Rs 40,000; opening stock Rs 40,000; purchases Rs 2,10,000; sales Rs 3,25,000; debtors Rs 65,000; creditors Rs 45,000; cash Rs 35,000; rent Rs 18,000; salaries Rs 52,000; drawings Rs 30,000.
- Sort every balance by nature: assets, expenses and drawings go in the debit column; capital, liabilities and incomes go in the credit column.
- Debit column: machinery Rs 1,80,000, furniture Rs 40,000, opening stock Rs 40,000, purchases Rs 2,10,000, debtors Rs 65,000, cash Rs 35,000, rent Rs 18,000, salaries Rs 52,000, drawings Rs 30,000.
- Add in order: 1,80,000 + 40,000 = 2,20,000; + 40,000 = 2,60,000; + 2,10,000 = 4,70,000; + 65,000 = 5,35,000; + 35,000 = 5,70,000; + 18,000 = 5,88,000; + 52,000 = 6,40,000; + 30,000 = 6,70,000.
- Credit column: capital Rs 3,00,000, sales Rs 3,25,000, creditors Rs 45,000. Total = Rs 6,70,000.
- Both columns agree at Rs 6,70,000, so the trial balance tallies.
Answer: The trial balance totals Rs 6,70,000 in each column.
Where marks slip: Two slips cost most marks here: drawings placed in the credit column next to capital, and opening stock forgotten because it feels like an old figure. Both belong in the debit column.
Try one yourself: Add a bank loan of Rs 55,000 and a computer costing Rs 55,000 to the list above. New totals? (Answer: Rs 7,25,000 in both columns)
A trader's ledger shows: plant Rs 2,50,000; stock Rs 60,000; debtors Rs 80,000; cash at bank Rs 45,000; wages Rs 35,000; purchases Rs 1,90,000; sales Rs 2,80,000; creditors Rs 70,000; bank loan Rs 90,000. The capital balance is missing. Prepare the trial balance and find capital.
- Total the debit balances: plant, stock, debtors, bank, wages and purchases.
- Running total: 2,50,000 + 60,000 = 3,10,000; + 80,000 = 3,90,000; + 45,000 = 4,35,000; + 35,000 = 4,70,000; + 1,90,000 = 6,60,000.
- Total the known credit balances: sales Rs 2,80,000 + creditors Rs 70,000 + bank loan Rs 90,000 = Rs 4,40,000.
- Capital is whatever makes the credit column equal the debit column: Rs 6,60,000 minus Rs 4,40,000 = Rs 2,20,000.
Answer: Capital is Rs 2,20,000, and the trial balance totals Rs 6,60,000 in each column.
Where marks slip: Say in words that capital is taken as the balancing figure. The examiner should see that you know it was derived from the totals, not given in the question.
Try one yourself: Debit balances total Rs 5,10,000, and the only known credits are sales Rs 2,05,000 and creditors Rs 65,000. Find capital. (Answer: Rs 2,40,000)
State the trial balance column for each item: purchases return, sales return, carriage inwards, commission received, bank overdraft, prepaid insurance, outstanding wages, drawings.
- Returns take the opposite column of the account they reduce: purchases return goes to the credit column, sales return to the debit column.
- Carriage inwards is an expense, so debit. Commission received is an income, so credit.
- A bank overdraft is money owed to the bank, so credit. Prepaid insurance is an asset, so debit.
- Outstanding wages are a liability, so credit. Drawings reduce capital but carry a debit balance of their own.
Answer: Debit column: sales return, carriage inwards, prepaid insurance, drawings. Credit column: purchases return, commission received, bank overdraft, outstanding wages.
Where marks slip: The returns pair is the favourite trap. Tie each return to its parent account and take the opposite side, and you will never mix them again.
Try one yourself: Which column for accrued income, and which for provision for doubtful debts? (Answer: accrued income debit, provision for doubtful debts credit)
A firm's trial balance agrees, yet the books contain all four of these: a credit sale to Asha never recorded anywhere; a machine repair of Rs 7,000 debited to the Machinery Account; Rs 3,000 received from Ravi credited to Kavi; purchases overcast by Rs 500 with sales also overcast by Rs 500. Explain why the trial balance still tallied.
- Complete omission: the Asha sale touched neither side of the books, so both columns are equally understated and still agree.
- Error of principle: the Rs 7,000 sits in the wrong class of account, an asset instead of an expense, but on the correct debit side, so the totals are unaffected.
- Error of commission: the credit went to the wrong personal account, Kavi instead of Ravi, but a credit of Rs 3,000 exists either way.
- Compensating errors: the two Rs 500 overcasts fall on opposite sides and cancel each other out.
- Conclusion: an agreed trial balance proves arithmetic equality, not correctness of the books.
Answer: All four are errors a trial balance cannot disclose: complete omission, error of principle, error of commission to the wrong account, and compensating errors.
Where marks slip: Name the error type, then state which totals it leaves untouched. The naming alone usually earns half the marks; the explanation collects the rest.
Try one yourself: Wages of Rs 10,000 were posted twice to the debit of the Wages Account. Would the trial balance still agree? (Answer: no, the debit column would exceed the credit column by Rs 10,000)
A trial balance shows a debit total of Rs 4,82,300 and a credit total of Rs 4,87,700. On checking, the rent account's debit balance of Rs 2,700 was found listed in the credit column. Show that correcting this makes the columns agree.
- The difference is Rs 4,87,700 minus Rs 4,82,300 = Rs 5,400, which is exactly twice Rs 2,700. A balance on the wrong side always creates a difference of double its amount.
- Remove rent from the credit column: Rs 4,87,700 minus Rs 2,700 = Rs 4,85,000.
- Add rent to the debit column: Rs 4,82,300 + Rs 2,700 = Rs 4,85,000.
- Both columns now read Rs 4,85,000, so the trial balance agrees.
Answer: The corrected totals are Rs 4,85,000 in each column.
Where marks slip: When a difference is even, halve it and hunt for a balance of that size on the wrong side. Writing the doubling test into your working earns method credit before you even find the culprit.
Try one yourself: Totals differ by Rs 1,800 because one balance sits on the wrong side. What size of balance do you search the ledger for? (Answer: Rs 900)
From these balances, prepare a trial balance and name the item most often misplaced: cash Rs 22,000; bank overdraft Rs 15,000; capital Rs 1,00,000; purchases Rs 88,000; sales Rs 1,26,000; wages Rs 14,000; furniture Rs 70,000; creditors Rs 18,000; drawings Rs 9,000; sales return Rs 6,000; purchases return Rs 2,000; stock on 1 April Rs 52,000.
- Debit column: cash Rs 22,000, purchases Rs 88,000, wages Rs 14,000, furniture Rs 70,000, drawings Rs 9,000, sales return Rs 6,000, opening stock Rs 52,000.
- Running total: 22,000 + 88,000 = 1,10,000; + 14,000 = 1,24,000; + 70,000 = 1,94,000; + 9,000 = 2,03,000; + 6,000 = 2,09,000; + 52,000 = 2,61,000.
- Credit column: bank overdraft Rs 15,000, capital Rs 1,00,000, sales Rs 1,26,000, creditors Rs 18,000, purchases return Rs 2,000. Total = Rs 2,61,000.
- Both sides agree at Rs 2,61,000. The most commonly misplaced item is the bank overdraft, which students list as a debit out of habit because bank balances usually are debits.
Answer: The trial balance totals Rs 2,61,000 in each column; the bank overdraft is the classic misplaced item.
Where marks slip: An overdraft is the bank's money sitting in your business, so it is a credit balance. Expect at least one twist item like this in any full-length trial balance question.
Try one yourself: Add machinery Rs 45,000 and a loan from Dev Rs 45,000 to the list. New totals? (Answer: Rs 3,06,000 in both columns)
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Are these the actual TS Grewal Chapter 14 solutions?
No. The book's questions are copyrighted, so these are original questions written to test the same skills at the same difficulty as the 2025-26 Chapter 14. The methods shown, especially the running additions and the doubling test, apply to the book's questions unchanged.
Is a trial balance an account?
No. It is a statement, a list of ledger balances drawn up on a particular date to check arithmetical accuracy. It is not part of the double entry system itself, which is why an item can be missing from it without any account being wrong.
Does closing stock appear in the trial balance?
Normally no. Closing stock is a valuation made after the books are closed, so it is not a ledger balance and is given as additional information below the trial balance. It only enters the trial balance in the special case where purchases have been adjusted through a closing stock account.
What should I do in an exam if my trial balance refuses to agree?
Run the ordered tests: difference divisible by two suggests a balance on the wrong side, divisible by nine suggests a transposition, equal to a listed balance suggests an omission, and only then re-add the columns. If time is short, state the difference, show the tests you ran, and move on; the method itself carries marks.