which account will not appear on an after -closing trial balance?
An account that will not appear on an after-closing trial balance is the temporary accounts. These accounts include the revenue, expense, and dividend accounts.
An account that will not appear on an after-closing trial balance is the temporary accounts or nominal accounts. These accounts are used to track revenues, expenses, gains, and losses for a specific accounting period.
To identify which accounts are temporary, you can refer to the chart of accounts or the general ledger. Temporary accounts often have names such as "Revenue," "Expense," "Gain," or "Loss." Examples of specific temporary accounts include "Sales Revenue," "Rent Expense," "Interest Income," "Depreciation Expense," and "Income Tax Expense."
To prepare an after-closing trial balance, you need to follow these steps:
1. Identify the temporary accounts: Review the chart of accounts or the general ledger and identify all accounts that are categorized as revenues, expenses, gains, and losses.
2. Close the temporary accounts: Transfer the balances of these temporary accounts to the retained earnings or owner's equity account, effectively zeroing out their balances. This process is known as closing entries and is typically done at the end of an accounting period.
3. Prepare the trial balance: Once the temporary accounts are closed, you can prepare the after-closing trial balance. This trial balance only includes the permanent accounts, also known as real accounts, which have balances that are carried forward from one accounting period to the next. These accounts include assets, liabilities, and equity accounts.
Therefore, when you review the after-closing trial balance, you will notice that the temporary accounts, which are now closed, will not appear since their balances have been transferred to the retained earnings or owner's equity account.
It's important to note that the after-closing trial balance ensures the accuracy of the closing process and verifies that the debits equal the credits after all temporary accounts have been closed.