Trial Balance

You’d think this was a scene from The Crucible. But unfortunately, way duller.

It's when accountants set off to balance their books, checking that assets equals liabilities, that all the expenses they think they had...they actually had. And cash flow from operations really does equal the amounts they’re taking for D&A plus net income (and other stuff). So they do a pre-balancing check…balance. It’s a trial. A test. An adjudication of the numbers. Who is guilty? Who is innocent? Which number goes to "re-check jail" and which number is now free for the full auditable balance?

That’s what the court is asking, anyway, in a trial balance. And we rest our case.