Overview
A Trial Balance is a financial report that provides a snapshot of the production's accounts at a given time, ensuring that all debits and credits in the general ledger are balanced. It lists all the account balances—such as assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses—used to manage the financial activity of a film.
The trial balance is particularly important in film production because it helps accountants verify that the production's financial records are accurate and properly organized. It ensures that every dollar spent or received is correctly posted, allowing for a clear comparison between the production's budget and actual costs.
In the context of film production, the trial balance shows:
Assets (e.g., cash balances, prepayments for locations, or equipment deposits)
Liabilities (e.g., unpaid invoices, deferred payments to crew, or vendor debts)
Equity (e.g., producer contributions or initial funding)
Revenue (e.g., income from distribution deals, pre-sales, or tax credits)
Expenses (e.g., cast, crew, locations, and post-production costs)
By reviewing the trial balance, film accountants can identify any discrepancies early, ensuring that every financial transaction is accounted for and that the production stays within its financial plan. It’s a crucial step before preparing more formal reports like cost reports or financial statements.
First, the Chart of Accounts: Before the ledger can be utilized, the first step is to upload a chart of accounts, which allows you to allocate expenses to specific budget line items. Use this guide to learn how to do that.
Accessing the Trial Balance
Access the Trial Balance by clicking the Accounting icon in the left navigation of any production, then selecting 'Ledger' from the 'Reports' menu.
The Trial Balance is organized into the following columns:
Account Code (ie. Expenses is represented as E, or Writers Labour as 3201)
Description is organized into the following hierarchy:
Account Type (ie. Expenses)
Account (ie. Camera)
Sub-Accounts (ie. Camera Labour)
Opening Balance is the amount carried over from the previous period, showing the starting balance of an account, either positive (debit) or negative (credit), before new transactions occur.
Current Activity is all transactions during the current period, including debits and credits from payments, revenues, or expenses, which adjust the opening balance.
Closing Balance is the final balance at the end of the period, calculated by adjusting the opening balance with current activity. This becomes the opening balance for the next period.
You can expand the Account Type to reveal individual accounts by clicking on the row. Similarly, sub-accounts can be further expanded with another click on their respective rows.
Filtering by Date Range
To organize the Trial Balance by date range, simply click the date picker and select your desired dates.
Downloading the Trial Balance
To download a customized CSV, click the download icon in the top-right corner of your screen to open the Download Settings panel. From there, choose your download options:
File Format: Exports all data into an editable spreadsheet via a CSV document
Date Range: Choose the posted costs based on the desired date range.
Finally, click the Download button at the bottom of the panel to begin your download.