What is a common sign of an accounting error when reviewing a trial balance?

The presence of a difference between debits and credits that is a multiple of ten is indicative of potential accounting errors, particularly in terms of transposition errors or arithmetic mistakes. When working with accounting entries, amounts are typically recorded in units that are often rounded to whole numbers or commonly used transaction values, such as tens, hundreds, or thousands. Thus, if the discrepancy falls into a common numeric pattern, such as multiples of ten, it raises a flag that there may have been a systematic error in data entry.

For example, if an accountant accidentally records $320 instead of $230 due to a simple transposition, the resulting difference would be $90, which is a multiple of ten. This pattern suggests an error worth investigating, as such consistent discrepancies can frequently arise from common mistakes during data entry or calculations.

On the other hand, differences that are zero demonstrate that the trial balance is correctly balanced, while discrepancies that are multiples of two may not point to a systematic error in the way that multiples of ten do. Similarly, a discrepancy that is strictly zero confirms accuracy and does not suggest any error to probe into. Thus, identifying a difference as a multiple of ten is a useful diagnostic tool for detecting potential errors within the accounting records.