Build a Trial Balance Report with OfficeConnect (Financials)

Build a live trial balance in Excel using OfficeConnect’s Financials data source — pulling posted GL actuals directly from Workday Financial Management.
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A trial balance lists every ledger account with its debit or credit balance for a given period. With OfficeConnect’s Financials data source, you can build one that refreshes directly from Workday Financial Management — no export, no copy-paste.

What you’ll build: A trial balance report showing all ledger accounts grouped by type (Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenue, Expenses) for a selected company and period.

What you’ll need:

  • OfficeConnect installed and connected to a tenant configured for the Financials data source (not Adaptive Planning)
  • Access to at least one company with posted journal entries in Workday Financial Management
  • The Financials vs. Adaptive Planning page explains the difference if you’re unsure which data source you have

Step 1 — Confirm your data source

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Check your data source Click the OfficeConnect tab in Excel and sign in. In the Reporting pane, look at the top of the element tree. If you see Ledger Accounts and Company, you’re on the Financials data source. If you see Accounts and Levels, you’re on Adaptive Planning. This tutorial requires the Financials data source.

Step 2 — Add Company and Period context

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Add your Company element Click B1. In the Reporting pane, expand Company and drag your company (legal entity) into B1. If you have multiple companies, start with one — you can add more later.
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Add your Version Click B2. In the Reporting pane, expand Versions and drag Actuals into B2.
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Add your Period Click B3. In the Reporting pane, expand Time and drag the period you want (e.g., December 2025) into B3. For a year-end trial balance, use the last period of your fiscal year.

Step 3 — Add ledger account rows

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Add an Assets section header Click A5 and type ASSETS. Bold it. This is a plain Excel label — not an OfficeConnect element.
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Add asset ledger accounts Click A6. In the Reporting pane, expand Ledger Accounts → Assets (or the equivalent group in your chart of accounts). Drag your first asset account (e.g., Cash) into A6. Continue adding asset accounts in A7, A8, etc.
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Add the data formula for assets Click B6. The OfficeConnect formula references the company in B1, the version in B2, and the period in B3. Copy B6 down for all asset account rows.
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Repeat for Liabilities, Equity, Revenue, Expenses Add section headers and ledger account rows for each account type. Copy the data formula from column B into each new row — OfficeConnect picks up the ledger account from column A automatically.

Step 4 — Add subtotals

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Add SUM rows for each section Below each account group, add an Excel SUM row. For example, if your asset accounts are in B6:B12, add =SUM(B6:B12) in B13 with the label Total Assets in A13. Repeat for each section.
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Add a balance check

At the bottom of the report, add a row labeled Out of Balance with the formula:

=TotalAssets - (TotalLiabilities + TotalEquity)

This should equal zero for a balanced trial balance. If it doesn’t, there are unposted or missing journals in Workday for this period.

Step 5 — Refresh and verify

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Refresh the report Click Refresh in the OfficeConnect ribbon. All ledger account rows populate with balances from Workday Financial Management.
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Verify the balance check Confirm the Out of Balance cell shows zero (or near-zero for rounding). If it’s non-zero, check that all ledger accounts are included and that your period is fully closed in Workday.

Next steps