AC114 Unit 5 Trial Balance and Error Hunt Example

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A first unadjusted trial balance that came out $900 heavy on the debit side, and the hunt that found why, are worked in this AC114 Unit 5 trial balance problem for a composite window-cleaning corporation. Purdue Global AC 114, Accounting I, tests the whole chain from journal to ledger here, and BS in Accounting students must show the search when the columns fail to agree. Brightpane's first attempt lists $69,800 of debits against $68,900 of credits. Four tests follow: looking for a missing line, halving the difference, dividing by nine and confirming at the source. Dividing by nine points to a transposed salary posting, $3,200 instead of $2,300. The ledger is corrected with a trail, the trial balance agrees at $68,900, and a final section explains what agreement still cannot prove.

CourseAC114 Accounting I
UnitUnit 5
Paper typeTrial balance problem
LengthAbout 590 words, 5 pages double-spaced
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolPurdue University Global
ProgramBS in Accounting
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for AC114 Unit 5

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Off by $900, Then Even: A Unit 5 Unadjusted Trial Balance and the Hunt for a Transposed Salary Posting

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

AC114: Accounting I

Unit 5 Trial Balance Problem

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

Brightpane Window Care, Inc., its ledger and the posting error are composite; the textbook, framework and control framework cited are real.

What this part is doingStating the difference and the final total in the lead shows the grader both the error hunt and the corrected answer are included.
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First Attempt

Brightpane Window Care, Inc. Unadjusted Trial Balance. June 30.

Debit balances listed: Cash $33,220; Accounts Receivable $1,200; Cleaning Supplies $650; Prepaid Insurance $1,800; Equipment $6,000; Truck $22,000; Dividends $1,000; Salaries Expense $3,200; Utilities Expense $310; Fuel Expense $420. Total $69,800.

Credit balances listed: Accounts Payable $3,000; Unearned Service Revenue $3,600; Notes Payable $15,000; Common Stock $40,000; Service Revenue $7,300. Total $68,900.

Difference: $69,800 minus $68,900 equals $900, debits too high.

The Hunt

Test 1, a missing or doubled amount. A single unposted line or a line posted twice would usually create a difference equal to an amount in the journal. No June entry is for $900, so the difference is not one whole line.

Test 2, a line posted to the wrong side. Posting a debit as a credit makes the difference twice the amount. Half of $900 is $450, and no June line is for $450, so a wrong-side posting is unlikely.

Test 3, divide by nine. When a difference divides evenly by 9, the usual cause is a pair of reversed digits or an amount with its decimal point moved (Franklin et al., 2019). $900 divided by 9 equals $100, which suggests two adjacent digits in the hundreds and thousands place were swapped.

Scanning the debit balances for a figure whose hundreds and thousands digits could be reversed pointed straight to Salaries Expense, listed at $3,200 when the June 15 payroll entry on page J2 was for $2,300.

What this part is doingThe highlighted sentence shows the test leading to the specific error, which is the reasoning the unit rewards when a trial balance fails.
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Test 4, confirm at the source. The journal entry for June 15 reads $2,300, and both payroll checks total $2,300. The ledger card for Salaries Expense showed $3,200, so the error was made in posting, not in the journal.

Correction

The Salaries Expense ledger card was corrected to $2,300, with the change initialed and dated rather than erased, so the correction itself leaves a trail. The cash ledger was checked and already showed the correct $2,300 credit, which is why the error appeared only on the debit side of the trial balance.

Corrected Trial Balance

Brightpane Window Care, Inc. Unadjusted Trial Balance. June 30.

Debit balances: Cash $33,220; Accounts Receivable $1,200; Cleaning Supplies $650; Prepaid Insurance $1,800; Equipment $6,000; Truck $22,000; Dividends $1,000; Salaries Expense $2,300; Utilities Expense $310; Fuel Expense $420. Total $68,900.

Credit balances: Accounts Payable $3,000; Unearned Service Revenue $3,600; Notes Payable $15,000; Common Stock $40,000; Service Revenue $7,300. Total $68,900.

What Agreement Now Proves

The columns agree, so every posted debit has an equal credit and the balances were transferred correctly. Agreement would not reveal an amount posted to the wrong account on the correct side, or a transaction never journalized at all. Errors of that kind are caught by review and by controls such as matching each payroll check to an approved time record, not by the trial balance (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, 2013). The balances are also unadjusted. Prepaid insurance, supplies and the unearned Crestview contract all still show their June 1 to June 8 amounts, which is why the next unit adjusts them before any statement is prepared. Statements built on unadjusted balances would not faithfully represent June (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2018).

What this part is doingEnding with what the corrected trial balance still cannot show connects this unit to the adjustments that follow.
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References

Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. (2013). Internal control: Integrated framework. https://www.coso.org

Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2018). Conceptual framework for financial reporting: Chapter 1, The objective of general purpose financial reporting, and Chapter 3, Qualitative characteristics of useful financial information (Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 8, as amended). https://www.fasb.org

Franklin, M., Graybeal, P., & Cooper, D. (2019). Principles of accounting, volume 1: Financial accounting. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-financial-accounting

What the AC114 Unit 5 assignment asks for

The fifth AC114 unit asks for an unadjusted trial balance prepared from the ledger. List each account with its balance in the debit or credit column, in chart order, under a proper heading, and total both columns. If they agree, the page is complete. If they do not, many sections ask you to show how you found the error. Calculate the difference, then apply the standard tests: look for an amount equal to the difference, halve it to test a wrong-side posting, and divide by nine to test for a transposition or slide. Confirm the error at the source document and journal. Correct the ledger in a way that leaves a trail, then present the corrected trial balance. Close with what agreement does and does not prove. Cite the textbook, in APA 7.

How this AC114 Unit 5 example is built

The sample presents the first attempt under its heading, with ten debit balances totaling $69,800 and five credit balances totaling $68,900. The hunt follows in four labeled tests. No $900 entry exists, half of $900 matches no line, and $900 divided by nine gives $100, pointing to reversed digits. The highlighted sentence shows the scan that found Salaries Expense at $3,200 against a journal entry of $2,300. Test four confirms the entry and the checks. The correction section explains why the error appeared on only one side. The corrected trial balance agrees at $68,900. A closing section explains the errors agreement cannot catch, cites COSO, and lists the balances still waiting for adjustment.

Reading the AC114 Unit 5 grading rubric

Trial balance problems are graded on correct balances, correct columns and agreeing totals. When the problem includes an error, the rubric often gives substantial credit for the method of finding it, not only for the corrected answer. Naming each test and its result shows systematic reasoning. Confirming at the source, rather than forcing the totals, earns points. Corrections that leave a trail reflect good practice. A corrected trial balance under a proper heading completes the computation. An explanation of what agreement proves, and what it does not, often carries interpretation credit. Clear formatting and APA 7 citations complete the grade.

Common AC114 Unit 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them

Many students faced with an unequal trial balance change a figure until the totals agree, which hides the real error. Others recheck the addition repeatedly but never test the difference. Wrong-side postings and transpositions are confused because the halving and nines tests are applied in the wrong order. The correction is made by erasing, leaving no record. The final trial balance lacks a heading. The explanation of what agreement proves is skipped. If your columns will not agree and you need the error found and documented, a writer can work through your ledger and show the hunt.

Get an AC114 Unit 5 example written to your instructions

Your ledger balances from Unit 4, or the set your section provided, are what the trial balance is extracted from, so send them together with the Unit 5 instructions and rubric. It comes back in 24-48h, with the error trail shown if your figures refuse to agree. The first custom sample carries no charge. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

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AC114 Unit 5 questions, answered

The difference fits neither the halving test nor the nines test. What then?

Then a single misposting is unlikely and the cause is probably an omission: a journal line never posted, or an account left off the trial balance itself. Comparing the count of accounts in the ledger with the count on the trial balance is the quickest check. After that, retracing postings from the journal forward usually locates the missing line within a page or two.

Can an agreeing trial balance still be wrong in AC114?

Yes. A transaction posted twice, or an amount sent to the correct side of an unrelated account, leaves the columns equal. The adjusting unit that follows often exposes these, because a balance that looks odd before adjustment usually looks impossible after it. Agreement is the minimum this unit requires, and the course treats it as a gate rather than a verdict.

Should the unadjusted trial balance include accounts with zero balances?

Most AC114 problems leave them off, since a trial balance lists balances and a zero has none to report. Some instructors prefer every account in the chart listed so omissions are easier to spot, and a few sections supply a template with all accounts preprinted. Where a template exists, filling it exactly as given avoids a formatting deduction.

Where can I find a free AC114 Unit 5 sample paper?

The complete AC114 Unit 5 trial balance problem on this page shows a $900 difference, four tests to find it, a transposed salary posting, the correction and the agreeing trial balance.

Why does dividing by nine work in the AC114 Unit 5 sample?

Reversing two adjacent digits always creates a difference divisible by nine. Here $900 divided by nine is $100, which pointed to swapped hundreds and thousands digits in Salaries Expense.