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The Balance Sheet analytical review template builds a period-on-period (or quarter-on-quarter / month-on-month) breakdown of the balance sheet, with automatic variance £ and % columns and a comment box against every line, so the person preparing or reviewing the accounts can explain movements in assets, liabilities and equity before the accounts are finalised. You can set a variance threshold so that significant movements are flagged automatically, and a progress banner shows how many flagged items have been explained. It is a review working paper rather than a note or disclosure — nothing it calculates is carried into the primary statements or the notes. It pairs with the P&L analytical review template, which does the same job for the profit and loss account.

Table of contents 

When should I use this template?

Use it on any UK engagement where you want a structured, evidenced review of balance sheet movements year-on-year (or period-on-period) rather than a one-off look at the trial balance — for example, checking that debtors or creditors have moved in line with expectations, or that a fixed asset addition or new loan is understood and explained. Where the client has a monthly or quarterly trial balance, it can also be used as a rolling management-accounts review during the year.

Before you start

  • The template reads directly from the trial balance using Silverfin's standard UK account mapping, so the trial balance needs to be mapped — there is nothing to map inside this template.
  • Decide whether you want a yearly, quarterly or monthly comparison (Step 1) — the choices available depend on the file type set up. For example, you can only use a monthly comparison if you have a monthly file.
  • It's usually most useful to complete this alongside the P&L analytical review template so the two are reviewed together.

Background: why this working paper exists

This template doesn't produce a note or a disclosure. It gives preparers and reviewers a structured place to compare current-period balances with the prior period, investigate significant movements and record an explanation for each one — for example, a fall in cash or a rise in creditors that isn't otherwise explained. That is a routine part of understanding the business and catching misstatements or going-concern indicators before the accounts are finalised — the template is the evidence that the review took place.

Step 1: Complete the settings panel

The grey SETTINGS panel sits at the top of the template. Untick the box next to SETTINGS to collapse it once you've finished; it opens again automatically in each new period.

Comparison — a dropdown whose options depend on how often the company's trial balance is produced:

  • Monthly trial balance (12 periods a year): Yearly, Quarterly or Monthly
  • Quarterly trial balance (4 periods a year): Yearly or Quarterly
  • Annual trial balance (1 period a year): Yearly only

The default is Yearly.

  • If you choose Yearly, a Format dropdown appears — YTD or PTD (default YTD). YTD shows the closing balance at the period end, which is what you'll normally want for a balance sheet. PTD nets off the previous period's closing balance, so the column shows only the movement in the most recent period.
  • If you choose Monthly, a Months to compare dropdown appears — 1 to 11 (default 1) — controlling how many preceding month-end balances are shown alongside the current month.
  • If you choose Quarterly, the template works out which quarter you're in from the period dates and shows each quarter-end for the year so far. In the first quarter, it compares against the last quarter of the previous financial year.

Rounding of accounts — "in ones", "in thousands" or "in millions" (default "in ones"). This scales every figure and updates the currency heading on each column (£, £'000 or £'m).

Show original accounts — a tick box (unticked by default). Leave it unticked to see Silverfin's standard mapped account numbers and names in the account-level breakdown; tick it to see the client's original trial balance account numbers and names instead. If you previously set the old Yes/No dropdown to Yes, the tick box is ticked for you.

Highlight variance — two optional thresholds that switch on variance flagging (see Step 3):

  • Flag items with a variance ≥ [%] — the percentage movement that triggers a flag. Flagging is off while this is blank.
  • Only flag variances ≥ [£] — optional. If entered, a line is only flagged if its £ movement is also at least this amount, so small balances with large percentage swings aren't flagged. Enter the amount in the same units as your rounding — for example, with rounding "in thousands", enter 20 for £20,000.

Step 2: Review the table

Use the tick boxes to expand or collapse up to four levels:

  • Top level — assets, liabilities and equity, expanded by default.
  • Sections — groups such as Tangible assets, Creditors and Reserves.
  • Sub-sections — current and non-current splits under Investments and Debtors only.
  • Categories — detailed groups that expand to show individual trial balance accounts, with links to each account.

You can edit section, sub-section and category names.

A line at any level only appears if it, or one of the accounts in it, has a balance in one of the periods shown. This means a section isn't hidden just because it nets to zero — for example, Accruals and deferred income showing £0 overall while the accounts underneath have balances.

Every line has its own comment box (placeholder "Description") for your explanation of the balance or movement. This is where the review evidence goes.

Balances are shown as they are in the trial balance, so debit balances are positive and credit balances (most liabilities and equity) are negative. Once a comparative period exists, the template adds a Variance column (£, with a + or − sign), a % column and a Flagged column. If no comparative period exists yet (for example the company's first year in Silverfin), only the current-period column is shown.

Step 3: Work through the flagged items

Once you've entered a percentage threshold in Step 1, each line is checked against it:

  • A line is flagged if its % variance is at or above the threshold (and, if you entered one, its £ variance is at or above the £ threshold).
  • A line with a balance this period but nothing in the comparative period is flagged as a new balance (subject to the £ threshold, if set).
  • Flagged lines show a caution icon in the Flagged column — hover over it to see why. Lines that aren't flagged show a dash.

Flags apply at the level you're reviewing:

  • Assets / liabilities / equity, sections and sub-sections are only flagged when they're collapsed or have nothing underneath. When one is expanded, the lines underneath carry the flag instead.
  • Categories are flagged whenever they breach the threshold.
  • Account rows show the icon for information, but don't need a comment and aren't counted.

A comment is required on every flagged line other than account rows — the comment box is marked as required until you fill it in.

A banner above the table summarises progress, for example "4 items flagged with a variance ≥ 20% and ≥ £5,000 | 3/4 commented". It is orange while any flagged item still needs a comment, and blue once they're all explained. Tick Show only these items on the banner to hide everything except the flagged rows while you work through them; untick it to see the full table again. This tick box is only available while editing.

What flows through to the rest of the accounts/workflow?

Nothing. This is a standalone review working paper — no other template reads its figures and it doesn't populate any note, disclosure or iXBRL tag. Its value is the evidenced review itself: the lines you expanded, the flags and the comments recorded against them. Unlike the P&L analytical review, there is no check against a trial balance total — the balance sheet is reviewed line by line.

What rolls forward next year?

  • Rolled forward: the Comparison, Format, Months to compare, Rounding, Show original accounts and Highlight variance settings; every tick box; and any section, sub-section or category names you've overtyped.
  • Cleared: all comments, so each period starts with blank comment boxes for the new review.
  • The SETTINGS panel opens again in each new period.

Where the data comes from

Figures come straight from the trial balance for the current period and, depending on the comparison chosen, the equivalent prior period(s) — prior year, prior month(s) or prior quarter(s). Accounts are grouped into sections and categories using Silverfin's standard UK account mapping.

Frequently asked questions

Why do I only see one column of figures with no variance?

There's no comparative period yet for the comparison you've chosen — for example, it's the company's first year in Silverfin, or the first month of a monthly comparison. The comparative, variance and Flagged columns appear once a prior period exists.

A section shows a small or zero total, but there are still accounts underneath — why?

The template shows a section as long as any account in it has a balance in one of the periods shown, even if the section nets to zero. Expand it to check the individual accounts.

Why is nothing flagged?

Flagging only runs once you've entered a percentage in Flag items with a variance ≥ in the settings panel, and only when a comparative period exists. If you've also entered a £ amount, check it's in the same units as your rounding.

Why isn't an expanded section flagged when its total moved a lot?

When a line is expanded, the flag moves down to the lines underneath so you explain the movement at the more detailed level. Collapse the line to flag and comment on it as a whole.

Why can't I see the Show only these items tick box?

It only appears in the banner while editing, and only when at least one item is flagged (or the box is already ticked).

Where have last year's comments gone?

Comments are cleared when the template rolls forward, so each period's review starts fresh. Last year's comments are still in the prior-year period.

Does anything I enter here appear in the accounts or notes?

No. This is a review working paper only.

How do I review the profit and loss account in the same way?

Use the P&L analytical review template, which has the same settings, variance flagging and progress banner for the profit and loss account, and also warns you if its total doesn't agree with the trial balance.

Set your rounding before you enter a £ threshold. The £ figure you type is read in the same units as your rounding, so with rounding set to "in thousands" you enter 20 to flag movements of £20,000 or more.