How to Balance a Checkbook: 14 Steps with Pictures

Taking time to balance your checkbook could help you avoid financial headaches caused by fraud. You simply write down transactions as they happen, adding or subtracting the appropriate amount from your balance. At the end of the month, you compare the ledger with your account statement to balance your checkbook. To protect against losing track of your balance and getting hit with an overdraft fee, you need to balance your checkbook — sometimes called a check register. You do this by manually recording every transaction, whether it’s a debit card purchase, writing a check, an automated payment, or a deposit. With today’s smartphones, we basically carry computers everywhere we go, so checking our checking account balance is as easy as logging onto our bank’s mobile app or online banking website.

Reasons your checkbook might not balance and what to do

Make note of the dates, descriptions, and amounts of any check, debit, or ACH payments listed in your check register but not on your statement — the ones without checkmarks. Pull out previous statements with uncleared outstanding transactions, such as checks and deposits. Look through your statement to see if these outstanding items cleared on this statement.

Balancing Your Checkbook

If you don’t regularly write checks, balancing a checkbook may not be necessary. That Gomez, Gomez recommends reviewing your spending consistently through a spreadsheet or budgeting app, even if you don’t write physical checks. Now you’ll be able to compare your check register to your bank statement. source documents The total from your calculations should come out to your current bank statement for the month. You may use your checkbook ledger, the back of your bank statement, a notebook, or a spreadsheet. Many of us use automatic payments to take care of monthly bills without the risk of missed or late payments.

1. With today’s smartphones, we basically carry computers everywhere we go, so checking our checking account balance is as easy as logging onto our bank’s mobile app or online banking website.
2. You may have some information on your bank statement that isn’t updated if you just sent a payment.
3. Starting with the first transaction you enter, subtract the amount from your available balance—in the case of a deposit, add it to the balance.
4. However, even though the paper-and-pencil aspect of checkbook balancing has mostly gone the way of the dodo, the process is still a necessary part of maintaining your checking account.

Missed automatic payments

However, this doesn’t account for pending charges, checks that haven’t been processed, etc. An up-to-date check register will always tell you exactly where you stand at any time, without surprises or needing to rely on a mobile app. Balancing your checkbook is a method of verifying that your records (your checkbook register) match the bank’s records, as shown on your monthly bank statement. For example, identity thieves may try to pass through a small transaction of just a few cents or dollars on your checking account to see whether it triggers a response. If it goes unnoticed, they may try to dip into your account for a larger amount.

For one, if you still use paper checks, this method does not account for them. You may overdraw your account if there is an outstanding check that you forget about. In addition, it is harder to find banking errors if you do not keep your own records, since you will be working from the bank’s numbers at all times. Now, though, banking customers have many different options for spending money. You may prefer using a budgeting app if you have multiple bank accounts or credit cards, as it’s easier to see them all in one place.

The key to this approach is making sure that you enter new credits and debits in a timely manner. Otherwise, you might forget about a transaction, which would result in an incorrect balance. Pick a time of the day when you’re free every day and log into your online banking. Compare your checkbook register to the day’s transactions and check off those that show as completed in your account.

If you find one such charge, you may need to dispute the transaction with the merchant, alert your bank to a potential issue, and even freeze your account and/or debit card until it’s resolved. One of the biggest benefits to balancing your checkbook is that you can quickly spot potential fraud and mistakes. https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/ If you are unable to find any math errors or missed transactions but your checkbook still doesn’t balance, consider going through and looking for signs of fraudulent activity. While some people really enjoy putting pen to paper, others fiercely prefer the convenience and ease that technology offers.

If you come up with the same discrepancy a second or third time, consider whether you made a math mistake or if there’s another issue. Here are some common reasons that your checkbook might not balance and what you can do to prevent this issue moving forward. You can also turn to specific budgeting and balancing apps or platforms, such as Mint, You Need a Budget (YNAB), Goodbudget, and even Quicken. Some of these charge a fee while others may be able to meet your balancing and budgeting needs with a free service. If you find a discrepancy here, make the necessary changes and rebalance your checkbook.

Make sure you note those transactions in your personal record to avoid any surprises. There is also no shortage of financial apps and software to help with balancing your checkbook. This can happen due to https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/brigade-outsourced-accounting-for-small-businesses/ a math error, a transposed number, an unrecorded transaction, or possibly a misapplied debit or credit. It may be that only old-school account holders still record and reconcile paper checkbooks by hand.