A trial balance is a financial statement that lists the debit and credit balances of all accounts in the general ledger. It is prepared to check the arithmetic accuracy of the ledger accounts and help detect errors. The trial balance is not a conclusive proof of accuracy as certain errors may remain undetected even if the debit and credit totals match. Common errors include omissions, incorrect postings, or wrong account balances. If errors cannot be found, a suspense account is used to temporarily balance the trial balance.