BOOKS OF ORIGINAL ENTRY 105 



position of figures, transplacement of figures, carrying to- 

 tals or balances forward from one page to another, bring- 

 ing down balances, closing accounts, footing the ledger 

 accounts, calculating the balances of the ledger accounts, 

 listing wrong amount in trial balance, entering on the 

 wrong side of the trial balance. 



Rules for Finding Errors. In order to find errors with 

 the least time and effort one must be familiar with the 

 types of errors and the methods of preventing them. The 

 finding, then, resolves itself into a systematic review of 

 the work where errors are most likely to exist. The fol- 

 lowing order of procedure is regarded as the one that will 

 result in the finding of errors in the least time : 



1. Find the amount of the error by calculating the dif- 

 ference between the two totals of the trial balance. 



2. // the difference is any number containing only the 

 digit 1 and 0, or containing only the digit 9, the error is 

 doubtless in addition or subtraction. Thus in an error 

 of $1, $10, 10 cents, 1 cent, 99 cents, $9.99, etc., check 

 over the additions and subtractions of ledger accounts, 

 trial balance and special columns. An error of $9.99 might 

 be the result of an error of $10 one way and 1 cent the 

 other. 



3. // the difference is divisible by 2 (that is, if it is an 

 even number) look for one-half the amount on the other 

 side. Thus, if the credit side of the trial balance exceeds 

 the debit side by $96 it might have been caused by placing 

 a ledger debit balance of $48 on the credit side of the 

 trial balance. It might also have been caused by posting 

 a debit of $48 to the credit side of an account. 



4. // the difference is exactly divisible by 9 look for a 

 transposition or transplacement of figures. For example, 

 if the error is $27, perhaps $63 has been written in place 

 of $36 or vice versa. It is always true that an error due to 

 transposition is exactly divisible by 9. Thus the difference 



