FAQ #: 48
What Is the difference in running the G/L Trial Balance with history entries and without history entries?

When you run the G/L Trial Balance without the history entries, the program first totals the months that have been previously posted to the master file up through and including the current period. Then, the program proceeds to check the activity file for any journal entries that have not already been posted that are within the date range requested.

When you run the G/L Trial Balance with the entries from history, the program totals up the amounts that have been posted up to (but not including) the period you are running the report for. Then, any entries posted to history for the requested date range and any entries still in activity for the requested date range are totaled to get the current amount of debits and credits.

The main difference between the two is the method used for calculating the starting balance for the period. Regardless of the method used, the beginning balance for the period should be the same. If it is not, this is generally an indication that entries may have been posted to the wrong period. One advantage to printing the history entries is that users who post to the general ledger master file throughout the month, can run a trial balance at month-end that shows all journal entries made for the month.