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What are the errors that do not affect trial balance?

Trial balance is prepared when transactions posted into the accounts are balanced up. The trial balance is then prepared to check the accuracy of those posted transaction. It is normal some times that some errors may be apparent but despite this, they may not affect the trial balance. It is very important for any accounting officer to note that these may occur in one way or another.

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Question added by Musa Muhammad Dandikko , Chief Accountant, Acting Director, Procurement , Federal College of Education, Katsina
Date Posted: 2013/10/26

Different types of errors which don’t affect the trial balance ,

 Error of omission

Where in the full transaction is omitted from the books of accounts.

 

Error of commission

Where we have entered the correct amounts but in wrong person’s account.

 

 Error of principle

This type of error takes place when an item is entered in wrong head or class of accounts.

 

Error of compensation

Are that errors which cancel the effects of each other.

 

Error of complete reversal of entries

These errors occur when we debit and credit the two or more aspects of a transaction wrongly using correct figures or amounts.

 

Error of original entry

Entering wrong original figure or amount in an accounts.

 

Error of transition

Error of transition can be defined as switching the sequence of digits of amount or figure of a transaction.

Khaled Abdelrehim ACCA DipIFR CMA
by Khaled Abdelrehim ACCA DipIFR CMA , Financial Analysis Assistant General Manager , Khalda Petroleum Company

1- If an entry is completely not registered.

2- Wrong amount in both sides by the same amount (10 instead of100).

3- Entering debit instead of credit.

Type2 errors do not affect the balancing of trial balance. Detailed articles are written by friends.

Sorry I'm not a specialist

ZAHIR SHAIKH
by ZAHIR SHAIKH , ACCOUNTS & FINANCE MANAGER , ELITE INDUSTRIES LIMITED

Accounting Errors that Do Not Affect the Trial Balance

SHAIKH ZAHIR

In accounting there are two error groups. The first group affects the balancing of the trial balance and these errors are known as type1 errors. The second group of errors are known as type2 errors and these errors do not affect the balancing of the trial balance. This article focuses on type2 errors.

Type2 Errors

Type1 errors cause an imbalance between the debit balances and thecredit balances on the trial balance. Type2 errors are different because thedebit and credit balances on the trial balance are equal and errors have been made in the accounting process.

Type2 errors are difficult to detect or identify because the trial balance does not report any error, even though errors would have been made. Other internal control tools such as nominal accounts analyses, nominal accounts reviews and reconciliations should be used to identify and correct these type2 errors.

The main type2 accounting errors that do not affect the balancing of the trial balance are as follows:

 

  • Error of omission. This occurs when a transaction is completely omitted from the books of accounts. This error will not be detected by the trial balance because the trial balance does not know that the transaction exists as it is off the books.
  • Error of reversal. This error occurs when a transaction that should have been posted as a debit is posted as credit, for example, in a cash sale, sales are debited and cash is credited. This is technically wrong but since the duality concept of the double entry has been applied, the trial balance will still balance.
  • Error of principle. This error occurs when a bookkeeper wrongly applies an accounting principle, for example by recording assets as expenses. Assets and expenses are both recorded in the books as debits so this is a technical error.
  • Error commission. This occurs when, for example, in the debtor's account an amount owed to M Woman is recorded as being owed to K Woman. The individual debtor accounts will be incorrect because one account will be overstated and the other will be understated, however the total debtors of the business will be correct and the big picture correctly reports the business’ debtors. This error shares the same characteristics as the error of principle except that it occurs in accounts of the same class.
  • Errors of subsidiary entry. This occurs when an error is made in the subsidiary entry or the book of original entry. For example, if a business buys stock for $1,000 on credit and the stock account is debited by $100 and the creditor is also credited by $100, rather debiting and crediting both accounts by $1,000. The trial balance will not be able to detect this error because the error applies to both the debit and credit entries as the wrong amount has been used in the two double entry accounting entries.
  • Compensating errors; these are rare and are likely to occur by chance. Compensating errors occur when, for example, debtors are overstated by $5000, and by chance creditors are also overstated by the same amount. As a result these two errors will compensate for each other and therefore will cancel out each other.

Rahul Sharma
by Rahul Sharma , Manager Finance and Accounts , Gemini Impex General Trading LLC

1.Error of principle:Recording of entry in fundamental incorrect manner eg capital expenditure charged to revenue.

2.Compensating Error:Recording expenditure of6000 wrongly at Rs8000 while other expense of2000 not recorded at all.

 

Mukkaram Siddique
by Mukkaram Siddique , Finance, Management & Stocks , Amazon Foods Saudi Arabia

All those errors for which

  • Double entry is properly performed.
  • Have wrong amounts but are entered in same way
  • Cancel effect of each other.
  • or
  • entry is not made at all

Will not appear on trial.

Moses Ajayi Murorun
by Moses Ajayi Murorun , Production Executives , Various Organizations

A lots of errors do not affects the trial balance sunch an error includes ,1. Error of complete omission2. Error of commission.3. error of principle4. error of original entry,5  error of compestion etc

Usman Ali Shaheen
by Usman Ali Shaheen , Deputy Chief Accountant , Etihad Sugar Mills Limited

There are several erros which do not effect the Trial Balance some of them are as follows:

wrongly posting of debit or credit of one head of account into another head of account.

e.g. Received $4000 from Smith but posted into Jorden account instead of smith.

some time revenue expenses posted to capital expenses in the same way capital expenses posted into revenue expenditure account.

a complete entry not recorded into the head of account did not effect the trial balance.

Abdullah Alnawaiseh
by Abdullah Alnawaiseh , Finance Manager , Al sorayia Group

Type2 errors can be detected by revising the account balances .for example if the inventory balance was in negative that means there is entry mistake

Hossam Siyam
by Hossam Siyam , Group CFO , Tatweer Group

Any erroer will affect the trial balance i think you mean erroers which will not appear in BS

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