MAT 200 Module 3 Journals, Ledgers and Trial Balance Example

Course	MAT 200 Principles of Accounting I
Module	Module 3
Paper type	Journal and trial balance paper
Length	About 1,029 words, 6 pages
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Aspen University
Program	Business Administration
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for MAT 200 Module 3

Balanced but Not Necessarily Right: Journal Entries, a Ledger and a Trial Balance for a Bike Shop's Second Month

Student Name

Business Administration Program, Aspen University

MAT 200: Principles of Accounting I

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingThe title states the paper's central caution about trial balances. APA 7 student title page.

Balanced but Not Necessarily Right: Journal Entries, a Ledger and a Trial Balance for a Bike Shop's Second Month

In April, Prairie Spoke Cycles' first month, Sam Whitaker learned the accounting equation. In May, the shop's accountant, a part-time bookkeeper named Lena Ortiz, set up the shop's records in accounting software using a general journal and ledger. This paper records May's transactions the way Lena did, posts them, prepares a trial balance and explains what the balance proves.

Debits and Credits

Each journal entry records equal debits and credits. Increases in assets, expenses and owner's withdrawals are debits. Increases in liabilities, owner's capital and revenue are credits. Decreases go on the opposite side. The rules follow from the accounting equation: because assets sit on the left and liabilities and equity on the right, recording each transaction with equal debits and credits keeps the equation in balance.

May in the Journal

Entry	Account	Debit	Credit	Explanation
1	Accounts Payable	20,000		Paid supplier for April inventory
	Cash		20,000
2	Inventory	15,000		Bought bikes and parts on 30-day credit
	Accounts Payable		15,000
3	Cash	18,400		Cash sales and repairs
	Sales and Service Revenue		18,400
	Cost of Goods Sold	11,000		Cost of bikes and parts sold
	Inventory		11,000
4	Cash	3,600		E-bike rentals
	Rental Revenue		3,600
5	Wages Expense	4,200		Paid mechanics and sales staff
	Cash		4,200
6	Utilities Expense	650		Paid electric and water bills
	Cash		650
7	Interest Expense	400		Monthly loan payment
	Notes Payable	1,100		Principal portion
	Cash		1,500

Posting and the Trial Balance

Lena posted each entry to its ledger account, adding May's activity to the April balances from Module 2. In the software, posting happens automatically when an entry is saved, but the logic is the same as in a paper ledger: each account collects every debit and credit that affects it, and its balance is the difference. Lena split April's combined revenue into sales and service revenue so that May's figures could be compared month to month. The trial balance lists every account's ending balance.

Account	Debit	Credit
Cash	69,750
Accounts Receivable	500
Inventory	40,200
Prepaid Rent	6,000
Equipment	48,000
Accounts Payable		15,000
Notes Payable		58,900
Sam Whitaker, Capital		85,000
Sam Whitaker, Drawing	2,000
Sales and Service Revenue		29,100
Rental Revenue		3,600
Cost of Goods Sold	16,800
Wages Expense	7,300
Utilities Expense	650
Interest Expense	400
Totals	191,600	191,600

What this page is doingThe totals match. That proves the debits equal the credits, and very little else.

What Balance Means

Carruthers and Espeland (1991) studied the history of double entry bookkeeping and argued that its appeal was never purely practical. The balanced books of a merchant presented an image of order, honesty and rational calculation to partners, lenders and the public. Balance became a symbol of a well-run business, which gave double entry rhetorical power beyond its usefulness as a check on arithmetic. The point matters for a new owner: a balanced trial balance looks reassuring, but the appearance of order is not proof of accuracy.

Errors a Balanced Trial Balance Hides

Several kinds of error leave the trial balance in balance. An entry left out entirely, such as a forgotten $650 utility bill, affects neither column. An entry recorded twice inflates both columns equally. An amount posted to the wrong account, such as wages recorded as utilities, leaves the totals unchanged. An entry made with the same wrong amount on both sides, such as $560 instead of $650, also balances. Only errors that affect one side, such as posting a debit without its credit, or a transposed number in a single posting, show up as an imbalance.

How Imbalances Are Traced

When a trial balance does not balance, a few habits help find the problem. First, find the difference between the debit and credit totals. If the difference equals a single transaction amount, look for an entry posted on one side only. If it is twice an amount, look for a debit posted as a credit, or the reverse. If the difference divides evenly by nine, a transposition is likely, such as $650 posted as $560, which creates a difference of $90. These checks are quick, but they only help with errors that throw the totals out of balance. In the software Lena uses, an entry cannot be saved unless its debits equal its credits, so most one-sided errors are blocked at the source; the remaining risks are the ones that balance.

Controls Beyond the Trial Balance

Because the most damaging errors leave the trial balance in balance, Lena added three monthly checks. She reconciles the ledger's cash account to the bank statement, which catches omitted and duplicated cash entries. She compares the accounts payable ledger with the supplier's monthly statement, which would catch an unrecorded purchase. And she reviews any expense account whose balance changed by more than a quarter from the previous month, which can reveal amounts posted to the wrong account. Each check takes less than an hour and covers a kind of error the trial balance cannot.

Why Errors Happen

Kinney and McDaniel (1989) studied public companies that had to correct previously reported quarterly earnings. Compared with similar firms, those making corrections tended to be smaller, less profitable, slower growing and more uncertain, characteristics associated with weaker accounting systems and controls. Ge and McVay (2005) examined material weaknesses in internal control that companies disclosed after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act took effect. Common weaknesses involved specific accounts, the period-end closing process and insufficient accounting personnel or training.

Prairie Spoke shares several of those features: it is small, new and relies on one part-time bookkeeper. The trial balance is a useful first check, but Sam should also review a sample of entries against receipts each month. Sam signs off on Lena's checks, which keeps a second person involved in a small office where one person otherwise does everything, and which gives the bank confidence that the quarterly figures were reviewed before they were sent.

Conclusion

The journal, ledger and trial balance turn May's transactions into a set of balanced accounts totaling $191,600. Carruthers and Espeland show why balance can look more convincing than it is, and Kinney and McDaniel and Ge and McVay show where errors tend to arise. A balanced trial balance is the start of checking the books, not the end.

References

Carruthers, B. G., & Espeland, W. N. (1991). Accounting for rationality: Double-entry bookkeeping and the rhetoric of economic rationality. American Journal of Sociology, 97(1), 31-69. https://doi.org/10.1086/229739

Ge, W., & McVay, S. (2005). The disclosure of material weaknesses in internal control after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Accounting Horizons, 19(3), 137-158. https://doi.org/10.2308/acch.2005.19.3.137

Kinney, W. R., Jr., & McDaniel, L. S. (1989). Characteristics of firms correcting previously reported quarterly earnings. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 11(1), 71-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-4101(89)90014-1

What the MAT 200 Module 3 instructions ask for

Module 3 of MAT 200 usually moves from the accounting equation to the recording process, with students typically entering a month of events, carrying them to accounts and checking that the two columns agree. The classroom's Module 3 page governs; Prairie Spoke and its figures are invented. Explain debit and credit rules. Record a set of transactions in a journal with explanations. Post the entries to ledger accounts. Prepare a trial balance and show that it balances. Say what agreement between the debit and credit columns does and does not establish, and suggest other checks. Cite sources in APA 7 form.

How this MAT 200 Module 3 example is built

May's seven transactions, entered in the shop's new accounting software, include paying the supplier $20,000, buying $15,000 of inventory on account, cash sales of $18,400 with a cost of $11,000, e-bike rentals of $3,600, wages of $4,200, utilities of $650 and a $1,500 loan payment split between $400 of interest and $1,100 of principal. Carruthers and Espeland's American Journal of Sociology article examined how double entry served as a rhetoric of economic rationality. Kinney and McDaniel's Journal of Accounting and Economics article studied characteristics of firms that corrected quarterly earnings. Ge and McVay's Accounting Horizons article classified material weaknesses disclosed after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The journal table records each entry. The trial balance lists fifteen accounts, with debits and credits each totaling $191,600. The paper lists errors a trial balance cannot detect, such as an entry omitted entirely or posted to the wrong account.

MAT 200 Module 3 rubric: what earns full marks

Recording papers earn credit when every entry is correct and the writer explains what the trial balance does and does not prove. This example journalizes seven transactions accurately, including a loan payment split between interest and principal, and prepares a trial balance that ties to the totals. Carruthers and Espeland, Kinney and McDaniel and Ge and McVay explain why balance is not the same as accuracy. The list of undetectable errors shows understanding beyond mechanics. Explanations under each journal entry make the reasoning easy to follow. Suggesting practical checks, such as a bank reconciliation, shows the writer knows how accountants actually catch the errors a trial balance misses.

MAT 200 Module 3 help from the desk

Recording papers often reverse debits and credits for revenues or liabilities. Remember that increases in assets and expenses are debits, while increases in liabilities, equity and revenue are credits. Another weakness is recording a loan payment entirely as an expense; only the interest is an expense. Write a short explanation under each entry. Check that the trial balance totals match, and list every account in the order it appears in the ledger. Explain which errors a balanced trial balance can still contain. Finally, keep account names consistent between the journal and the ledger. Suggest at least one check beyond the trial balance, such as matching the cash account to the bank statement.

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More MAT 200 and Business Administration sample papers

MAT 200 Module 3 questions, answered

What does MAT 200 Module 3 usually ask for?

Aspen's MAT 200 usually moves to journals, ledgers and the trial balance in this module, so recording transactions and preparing a trial balance is typical. Check your classroom prompt.

What does a trial balance prove?

That total debits equal total credits in the ledger. It does not prove that every transaction was recorded, or recorded in the right account or amount.

Which errors does a trial balance miss?

Omitted entries, entries recorded twice, entries posted to the wrong account and errors made with the same wrong amount on both sides.

Where can I find a free MAT 200 Module 3 sample paper?

The example above journalizes a bike shop's second month, posts to the ledger and prepares a trial balance.

Why do small firms make more accounting errors?

Research such as Ge and McVay's found that control weaknesses often involve too few trained staff and weak period-end processes, common in small firms.

MAT 200 Module 3 Journals, Ledgers and the Trial Balance Example