One of the fundamental accounting/financial statements is the balance sheet. A balance sheet is balanced because the total assets of a company equal their liabilities plus owners' equity. However, what should a balance sheet that doesn't balance be called? Would that be an imbalance sheet, unbalance sheet, unbalanced sheet, or something else?
Learn English – How to call a balance sheet that doesn’t balance
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Best Answer
It seems silly to have to say this, but you should call it what it is: an unbalanced balance sheet. And, clearly, given the definition of balance sheet, there can only be an unbalanced balance sheet if there is an error of some kind in the balance sheet: an error in the total assets of the company, the company's liabilities, the owners' equity, and whatever other pluses and minuses come into play. As @Greybeard has indicated in his comment, you could avoid the existence of an imbalance by including in the balance sheet an unaccountable deficit (or surplus) line. That would result in a balanced balance sheet in all cases, i.e., a balance sheet that actually balances. At the same time, it would indicate the existence of a problem (if the unaccountable deficit or surplus were significant) while shedding no light on the origin of the problem.