If total debits do not equal total credits after posting, what is the most likely cause?

• A. The trial balance is correct and should be used as is
• B. A posting error or omission occurred
• C. The accounting equation is inconsistent
• D. The company has no errors

Answer: (B)

In double-entry accounting, every debit must have a corresponding credit. If the totals don’t balance after posting, it points to a posting error or omission. Common examples include recording a debit in the wrong account, posting the wrong amount, or missing one side of a transaction altogether. These mistakes disrupt the equal pairing of debits and credits and show up as an imbalance on the records. The other options aren’t correct because an imbalance signals that something was posted incorrectly or omitted; the trial balance wouldn’t be correct as posted, the basic accounting equation isn’t the immediate cause of the mismatch, and it’s not true that the company has no errors.