If your balance sheet is out of balance, there are some checking techniques that we can use The first one is to always calculate the amount that you're out of balance by We've got this at the bottom of the table here. My balance check question mark is 83.3 Next up, now check that out of balance amount for consistency with any balance sheet or cash flow statement line item So can I see 83.3 anywhere? As I scan through my balance sheet, I can see that that is the same as the cash and cash equivalent item So what's happened? Well if I look to the fourth line down, total assets of 149.8 And I just scan up the three items above, it doesn't seem to be totalling those three items above 149.8 seems to exclude cash So that total assets has been done wrong. Fantastic, I've managed to find the error Next up, if that hasn't helped you, what you can do is divide the out of balance amount by two Now how is this going to help you? Well it means if you have a signage error somewhere So for instance, maybe your change in accounts payable on the cash flow statement Maybe that's currently showing positive 15 When it should be showing negative 15. That will lead to a balance sheet check item of 30 So if you think positive 15, oops it should be negative 15. What's the difference? It's a difference of 30 Dividing the balance check of 30 by 2, you get to 15 Now you've got a figure you can go looking for and you find it in the cash flow statement. It's a signage error Next up, if the difference is the same each period, 83.3 in years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Then that is a beginning balance problem. The problem is going to be in year 0 or in year 1 Last up, if period one balances just fine but not the later periods, then copy period one across again You may find that you forgot to copy across a line item in the income statement or maybe a calculation and that's where your problem lies