Always compare the balance sheet and the purchase ledger as of the same date.

Compare the total of the “Unpaid purchases balance total” in the purchase ledger with the closing balance of the balance sheet account 2310 Trade creditors. If the balances in the “Total sum” and “Remainder” columns differ in the purchase ledger, compare the account 2310 Trade creditors with the amount in the “Remainder” column.

The “Total sum” column shows the total amount of the received purchase invoice. If part of the invoice has been paid, the unpaid portion is shown in the “Remainder” column. The unpaid portions of invoices represent the trade creditors.

If there are payments in the purchase ledger not linked to any invoice, they are included in the line “Prepayments sum”. This amount must match to the prepayments to suppliers recorded in the balance sheet. The amount may consist of balances from several accounts – a prepayment to a supplier may be recorded under “Receivables and prepayments” on account 1530 Prepaid expenses for future periods or under Assets on account 1650 Prepayments to suppliers. Check this according to your company’s rules.

If you notice any discrepancies, change the comparison date until you find the last date when the data matched. Then review the main ledger from that date onward to identify the cause of the discrepancy. Check the transactions in the following period to see if anything appears incorrect.

Once the reason for the difference is identified, make the necessary corrections.