Closing entries

must be journalized and posted.

aren't needed if adjusting entries are prepared.

need not be journalized since they appear on the worksheet.

need not be posted if the financial statements are prepared from the worksheet.

D. Must be journalized & posted

Posting accounts to the post closing trial balance follows the exact same procedures as preparing the other trial balances. Each account balance is transferred from the ledger accounts to the trial balance. All accounts with debit balances are listed on the left column and all accounts with credit balances are listed on the right column.

The process is the same as the previous trial balances. Now the ledger accounts just have post closing entry totals.

An post closing trial balance is formatted the same as the other trial balances in the accounting cycle displaying in three columns: a column for account names, debits, and credits.

Since only balance sheet accounts are listed on this trial balance, they are presented in balance sheet order starting with assets, liabilities, and ending with equity.

As with the unadjusted and adjusted trial balances, both the debit and credit columns are calculated at the bottom of a trial balance. If these columns aren’t equal, the trial balance was prepared incorrectly or the closing entries weren’t transferred to the ledger accounts accurately.

As with all financial reports, trial balances are always prepared with a heading. Typically, the heading consists of three lines containing the company name, name of the trial balance, and date of the reporting period.

The post closing trial balance is a list of all accounts and their balances after the closing entries have been journalized and posted to the ledger. In other words, the post closing trial balance is a list of accounts or permanent accounts that still have balances after the closing entries have been made.

This accounts list is identical to the accounts presented on the balance sheet. This makes sense because all of the income statement accounts have been closed and no longer have a current balance. The purpose of preparing the post closing trial balance is verify that all temporary accounts have been closed properly and the total debits and credits in the accounting system equal after the closing entries have been made.