What do we do with the balanced accounts?

Let us assume that on a given date we have taken each of our ledgers and balanced all of the accounts within them. What do we do with them now?

We put them together to form a "trial balance."

All the accounts should have been balanced off correctly and they will all be used. Those accounts which have their balances on the left hand side are our debtors and those balances will appear in the left hand column of the trial balance. Those accounts with their balances on the right hand side of the account are our creditors and those balances will appear on the right hand side of our trial balance. Remember that every transaction that a business carries out is recorded against two accounts (i.e. a double entry). Provided that the accounts were balanced correctly at the beginning of the accounting period then left column (Dr) and the right column (Cr) should total exactly the same. If they do not then a mistake has been made.

The creditors' accounts will usually be added together and shown on the trial balance as "Bought ledger control". Similarly, the debtors' accounts will be added together and shown on the trial balance as "Sales ledger control".

Sourch:
http://www.bized.co.uk/