How to Balance a Checkbook with Online Banking
Balancing your checkbook through online banking is fast, simple and convenient. You will see most debit card transactions immediately and it helps keep track of outstanding checks. There a few tricks to balancing your checkbook through online banking, so keep the following things in mind.
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Instructions
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Keep your receipts. Some transactions may take a day or two to show up in your online account. This is especially true for checks that can take up to seven days to clear your bank account.
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Understand "pending" transactions. These are transactions that have not yet been paid but will be within the next day or two. Take note that some pending transaction amounts will be different than the actual total amount.
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Do the math. Using online banking is a good way to balance your checkbook, but since not every transaction shows up immediately you still have to do the math. Take your online bank balance and check it against your check registry, deducting all checks and debit transactions to see if the two amounts match.
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Use the balance you have recorded as the balance of reference. To avoid bouncing a check, use the dollar amount you have recorded in your check book registry because it includes all of the transactions that have not yet cleared your bank account.
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Tips & Warnings
Check your account balances frequently if you use your debit card a lot. This will help you to easily track your expenses.
Log off when you are finished. Although online bank accounts will "time-out" and automatically log you off after a certain period of inactivity, be sure to click the log-off button on your account page. Doing so will make certain that nobody can access your banking information.
Change your log-in ID and password once every couple of months. This is a preventative measure you can take to protect your account information from hackers and phishers.
Remember, pending transactions will sometimes vary. Restaurant transactions are a good example because your bill amount (minus tip) will show up as a pending transaction first. Then, the total amount (including tip) will show up in your cleared transactions list.
Never use a public computer when accessing your online bank account. Your information will be stored either in the computer's web cache or cookies, making the personal information accessible to the next person to use the computer.
