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CMA Foundation · Fundamentals of Financial and Cost Accounting · Trial Balance

Which one of the following errors would be disclosed by the trial balance?

The trial balance discloses a one-sided posting, such as cash paid credited in the cash book but not debited to the supplier's account. Errors of principle, errors of commission and equal wrong amounts on both sides leave the totals equal and stay hidden.

  1. APurchase of furniture Rs 10,000 debited to Purchases account
  2. BCash paid to a supplier correctly credited in the cash book but not posted to the supplier's accountCorrect
  3. CSale of Rs 7,000 to Mr Das entered as Rs 7,000 in the sales book but debited to Mr Das's account as Rs 700 and credited to Sales as Rs 700
  4. DRepairs Rs 3,000 debited to Repairs account and credited to the Bank account of a different bank, both being the same amount

Explanation

A payment credited in the cash book but not posted to the supplier's account leaves a credit without a matching debit, so the totals differ. Debiting furniture to purchases is an error of principle, and equal wrong amounts on both sides do not disturb the totals. Posting to a different bank account is an error of commission with equal sides.

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