Why does a draft show a difference between P&L profit and balance sheet earnings?

Draft Accounts checks that the P&L's net profit equals the balance sheet's current-year earnings and shows any difference as a difference, never absorbed. A draft made just after a month end is freshened against the books first, because that month is still being written up. The open points list it with the other checks: director loans, intercompany balances that do not agree, stale work in progress and net assets.