What is the primary purpose of the trial balance?

The primary purpose of the trial balance is to pinpoint errors in ledgers. A trial balance is a financial report that lists the balances of all accounts in the general ledger at a specific point in time. By ensuring that total debits equal total credits, the trial balance helps to verify the arithmetic accuracy of the ledger accounts. If the two sides do not balance, this discrepancy indicates that there may be errors in the entries, such as omissions or incorrect postings.

This serves a crucial role in the accounting process, as it highlights the need to investigate and rectify any mistakes before the financial statements are prepared. The other options focus on different aspects of accounting and financial reporting, such as summarizing sales, projecting revenues, or calculating depreciation, but they do not capture the fundamental objective of the trial balance.