To balance a checking account, compare your payment record with the bank statement for the same date. Match each item. Account for payments and deposits that have not cleared. Add fees or interest missing from your own record. After those changes, the two totals should agree. If they do not, keep looking for the cause.
This is called reconciling an account or balancing a checkbook. You can use paper, a spreadsheet or an app. What matters is keeping your own record of payments you allowed and deposits you made. Copying the bank’s number alone will not help you spot a missing or wrong entry.
What you need before you start
Gather the statement, your check register or payment list, and receipts for items you cannot identify. Work on one account at a time. If you share it, include both people’s payments and deposits. A purchase left off one person’s list can otherwise look like money that vanished.
Pick one date to compare, such as the statement’s closing date. Last month’s statement and today’s register include different periods. Separate the activity between those dates before you compare them. Save the last finished review too. It tells you which old items had not cleared when you last checked.
Keep full account numbers and personal records private. A worksheet needs dates, amounts and short notes. It does not need passwords, card PINs or online-banking codes. Use enough detail to identify a payment without adding private access details that someone could misuse.
Step 1: Match each transaction and its amount
Work through deposits, checks, debit purchases, transfers, cash withdrawals and fees. Mark an item when the amount and details match in both records. Check more than the total. Similar store names or two purchases for the same amount can make it easy to match the wrong line.
Count a debit-card purchase once. If an app adds it after you entered it, match the two entries rather than add another expense. Check transfers between your own accounts too. A transfer changes this account’s balance. But it does not, by itself, give your household new income or create new spending.
Make two short lists. First, list items in your register that have not posted at the bank. Second, list statement items that are missing or different in your register. These explain the changes you need to make. Keep the two lists separate so you do not adjust the wrong side.
Step 2: Adjust the bank-statement side
Start with the statement’s ending balance. Add deposits you entered by the comparison date that the bank has not yet credited on the statement. Subtract checks and other withdrawals you entered by that date that have not posted. If a payment already cleared, do not include it again. Each item needs just one place in the math.
A bill you plan to pay next week is part of your budget. It is not an outstanding payment you have already made. Keep it on a separate list of future costs. Treat a paycheck you expect but have not received or deposited the same way. Do not add it as a deposit already made.
Step 3: Update your register
Add interest and other valid credits shown on the statement but missing from your register. Subtract valid fees, automatic payments and other withdrawals you missed. Fix typing and math errors with the original receipt or confirmation. Check that each change reflects a real item rather than a guess.
Do not add a withdrawal you do not know as an expense just to make the totals match. Find out what it is first. This review is meant to reveal problems. An unexplained change can hide one and leave you with a total that looks right for the wrong reason.
A checking-account reconciliation example
This made-up example compares both records as of November 30. Your register includes a $200 deposit made that day, a $180 check and a $70 payment. None has posted on the statement. Your register does not yet include the statement’s $15 fee or $2 interest credit. No other differences apply here.
| Bank-statement side | Amount |
|---|---|
| Ending statement balance | $1,500 |
| Add deposit recorded but not posted | + $200 |
| Subtract outstanding check | – $180 |
| Subtract other outstanding payment | – $70 |
| Adjusted statement balance | $1,450 |
| Register side | Amount |
|---|---|
| Register balance before missing entries | $1,463 |
| Subtract fee not yet recorded | – $15 |
| Add interest not yet recorded | + $2 |
| Adjusted register balance | $1,450 |
The adjusted totals match: $1,500 + $200 – $180 – $70 = $1,450, and $1,463 – $15 + $2 = $1,450. Keep the $180 check and $70 payment on the list of items still to clear. Leave them there until they clear or you settle their status. Do not subtract them from the register again. It already included them.
The $200 deposit belongs in this review because you entered it by the comparison date. That does not show whether the bank lets you spend it yet. A deposit made after November 30 belongs in the next period. Do not use a later deposit to fix the totals for this one.
A visual check of both balances
Text version: For the fictional November 30 comparison, adjust the statement: $1,500 + $200 – $180 – $70 = $1,450. Fix the register: $1,463 – $15 + $2 = $1,450. The register already counted the $180 and $70 payments, so do not subtract them there again. The $200 deposit was made by the comparison date. Check holds, usable deposits and future bills separately before spending.
Open the full-size visual in a new tab | Save this visual as a PDF | CreditDad.com
If the balances still do not match
If the totals still differ, check the starting balance and every addition and subtraction. Look for missing items, duplicates, swapped digits, wrong signs or an old check dropped from the list. A $25 withdrawal entered as a $25 deposit causes a $50 gap, not a $25 gap. The error moves the balance the wrong way.
Take care with entries for the same amount. A familiar total does not prove it is the right payment. If the bank shows an amount different from your receipt or confirmation, contact it. Give the date, amount and supporting record so it can check the exact entry you mean.
The CFPB explains how to report unauthorized electronic transactions. Contact the bank promptly; do not wait for your next planned review. Reporting rules depend on what happened. A lost card or access code may call for faster action than a routine monthly check. Ask which steps and dates apply, and keep a record of the report.
A balanced checkbook is not a spending limit
Your adjusted total, the bank’s posted balance and its available balance answer different questions. Your review counts recorded items that may still be clearing. The available balance may include some holds but miss a check the bank has not received. Find out what each number includes before using it to plan a payment.
Before spending, allow for deposits you cannot use yet. Check outstanding payments not already counted in the number you use. Set aside money for bills still to come. Do not subtract the same hold twice. If you do not know what the bank’s balance includes, ask before relying on it.
For a pending card amount, see the difference between authorization holds and card blocks. Matching your records does not cancel a hold. It also does not promise that a new purchase will be approved. Use the review to understand the account, then check any hold or spending restriction as a separate issue.
Keep a reusable reconciliation record
Save a short record for each review: date, ending statement balance, deposits still to post, withdrawals still to clear, register fixes and both adjusted totals. Beside each open item, note who will check it and what they will do next. Use a payment reference, not a guess such as “probably groceries.”
Read statements when they arrive and keep the register up to date between reviews. A short regular check is easier than rebuilding months of activity after a problem. The credit union’s checkbook-balancing guide gives another explanation of recording and matching payments. Use the same method each time so old open items stay visible.
You do not have to write paper checks to benefit. Electronic payments can also be missed, entered twice or delayed. When your records agree, you have a checked starting point for next month’s decisions. You also have a list of anything still to clear, rather than just a number that looks reassuring.