Preparing your trial balance before the auditors arrive

A clean trial balance does not guarantee a smooth audit, but a messy one almost guarantees delay. Before Juniper Ledger Review — or any auditor — begins fieldwork, the trial balance should tie to the general ledger and to the financial statements you intend to present.

What to include in the package

Send the trial balance as of the reporting date, mapped to your draft statement line items. Attach bank reconciliations for every account with a material balance, a fixed-asset rollforward from opening cost and accumulated depreciation, and aged listings for receivables and payables that reconcile to the control accounts.

Schedules that commonly stall fieldwork

Inventory listings that omit location codes force recounts. Receivables aging that ignores credit memos inflates overdue balances and invites extra sampling. Related-party notes without contract references send auditors hunting through email for terms.

Timing tip for March year-ends

If your year ends 31 March, finalize the trial balance before promising lender delivery dates in late April. Auditors still need time for sampling after your books close; compressing both into the same week is how exceptions linger into May.