How Do I Balance a Checkbook?
As anyone who has ever bounced a check can attest, the ability to balance a checkbook can be crucial. Banks do make mistakes occasionally, and checks may not clear your account as timely as you may have hoped. With the increased popularity of debit cards, forgetting a transaction or two is also highly possible. Balancing a checkbook on a regular basis can literally save a checking account holder from incurring returned check fees and the social embarrassment of writing a bad check or having a debit card purchase declined at a local store. To properly balance a checkbook, you’ll need some account information first. Banks generally mail out a monthly statement which lists all of the checks and debit card transactions which have cleared, along with the total number and amounts of deposits made during that period. This information can also be accessed through a password-protected phone service or a private online bank statement website. The most important number to note is the bank’s endin
The concept is comparing your record (check register) balance to what the bank has. It is kind of important since bounced checks are a pain and are expensive as is leaving a lot of extra money in the account not earning interest. Here is what I do. 1. Compare each item in your check register to the bank statement. When they match check off the amount in both documents. 2. After awhile you will probably have items in your check register that aren’t listed on the bank statement. I put an O instead of a check mark next to these items. Make seperate lists of these items: One list is for all deductions from you account e.g checks, ATM withdrawals, etc. The other list is for all deposits that you have and the bank doesn’t show on their statement. 3. Look at the bank statement to make sure they haven’t listed something that you don’t have in your check register. e.g fees, ATM charges you forgot to enter etc. Add these items to your check register and do the proper additions and subtractions t
You balance your checkbook in hand with your bank statement for the month. Take your ending balance from the bank statement, subtract out any outstanding check amounts (checks that are not cashed in yet) and add in any deposits that do not appear on the bank statement. This should come out to the total you have already in your checkbook. The secret to good accounting is keeping good records.
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