The Effect of the General Ledger on the Ability to Prepare a Trial Balance

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of general ledger mastery on students’ ability to prepareatrial balance in accounting education. The general ledger plays a central role intheaccounting cycle, as it summarizes journalized transactions and directly determines theaccuracy of trial balance preparation. However, many students still experience difficultiesinlinking ledger procedures to trial balance construction, resulting in classification errors andimbalance. This research employed a quantitative approach with a correlational designinvolving undergraduate accounting students. Data were collected through performance-based tests, questionnaires, observations, and documentation, and analyzed using descriptivestatistics, correlation, and regression techniques. The results reveal a significant positiverelationship between general ledger mastery and trial balance preparation ability, indicatingthat stronger ledger competencies contribute to higher reporting accuracy. These findingsconfirm the sequential logic of the accounting cycle and highlight the importanceofstrengthening ledger instruction. The study concludes that systematic training inledgerprocedures is essential to enhance students’ financial reporting competence and recommendsintegrating scaffolded and technology-supported learning in accounting instructio.