Verification of accounting records

About this topic

Once transactions are recorded, how do we know they are right? This section is the checking toolkit. The trial balance tests the arithmetic of double entry. Journals and suspense accounts fix errors. A bank reconciliation compares the cash book with the bank's record. Control accounts check the totals of the receivables and payables ledgers.

What students must be able to do

The official syllabus lists a set of skills under each sub-topic. Here is each one in plain English, with a link to our guide.

How it is examined

Both papers are based on all the subject content, so this topic can appear in either. For 2027 to 2029, Paper 1 has 40 multiple-choice questions, all compulsory in 1 hour 30 minutes (40 marks). Paper 2 has five compulsory questions of 20 marks each, based on stimulus material in 1 hour 45 minutes (100 marks).

The question verbs matter too. The syllabus lists command words such as calculate, explain, prepare and evaluate, and the marks on each part of a question tell you how much detail is expected.

The syllabus names preparing suspense accounts and journal entries among the Paper 2 tasks, and reconciliations and control accounts sit naturally alongside them. Paper 1 can ask which errors a trial balance can or cannot reveal.

Sources: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), pages 9, 22. See all sources.

Slips our teachers see most in this topic

These come from marking student work in lessons, not from the board.

• Starting a bank reconciliation from the wrong balance, or reversing the sign of an unpresented cheque.
• Forgetting that correcting an error through the suspense account can also change profit.
• Putting contra entries and discounts on the wrong side of a control account.

If these slips look familiar, a teacher can go through your child's answers on verification of accounting records and fix the habit behind each one. Book a trial class.

What changed between the 2026 and 2027 to 2029 syllabuses

• Bank reconciliation: The 2027-2029 syllabus removes dividends from the cash-book updating list that appears in 2026. It adds the impact of digital business transactions on the reconciliation process.
• Control accounts: The 2027-2029 syllabus adds the impact of digital recording of transactions. Both syllabuses state candidates do not need to reconcile control account balances to the ledger balances. The 2026 text also says control accounts that form part of the double entry system are not required.

Where this sits on the other boards

Our teachers' map of the same ideas in the other documents (an editorial mapping, with the official reference shown):

• The trial balance: Edexcel Topic 3, item 1 Trial balance (p. 17); OxfordAQA 3.2 (p. 12).
• Correction of errors: Edexcel Topic 3, item 3 Correction of errors (p. 17); OxfordAQA 3.2 (p. 12).
• Bank reconciliation: Edexcel Topic 3, item 4 Bank reconciliation statements (p. 17); OxfordAQA 3.2 (p. 13).
• Control accounts: Edexcel Topic 3, item 2 Control accounts (p. 17); OxfordAQA 3.2 (p. 12).

Keep going

• Key terms: Trial balance, Error of commission, Compensating error, Error of omission, Error of principle, Error of original entry, Suspense account, Journal, Bank reconciliation, Bank statement
• Skills: How to prepare a trial balance, How to correct errors not shown by the trial balance, How to correct errors using a suspense account, How to write a journal entry, How to prepare a bank reconciliation statement, How to prepare a sales ledger control account, How to prepare a purchases ledger control account
• Layouts: Trial balance format, Suspense account format, General journal format, Bank reconciliation statement format, Sales ledger control account format, Purchases ledger control account format
• Worked examples: correction of errors, bank reconciliation, control accounts
• Practice: trial balance, correction of errors, bank reconciliation, control accounts
• All Cambridge 0452 and 0985 topics

Official reference: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), page 13; Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for examination in 2026 (Version 2, December 2025), page 12. See all sources.