How to Balance A Checkbook With an Internet Statement

Here is how to balance you checkbook any time of the month without waiting for the bank's statement to come in the mail. You will know at any given time what your exact balance is and be assured that it is correct.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bank checkbook register
• Computer
• Internet capabilities
• Online banking
• Ink pen
• Calculator

Balance Your Checkbook with Your Internet Statement

1. Begin by gathering your checkbook register, ink pen and calculator. Sign onto the Internet through your service provider and go to your bank's website. Log into your account and bring up your statement.

2. Look at all the transactions that have cleared your bank and begin checking them off in your register where you left off the last time you balanced your register. Make sure all amounts are correct; if they are not, make note of them and when you are ready to complete your balancing, you can add or subtract any mistakes you’ve made by writing “adjustment to balance” and placing the overage or shortage in the proper column and adding or subtracting it from your balance. Make sure to check off all deposits that have been made to date and have posted to your account as well.

3. Now, add up all the deposits that have not posted to your account yet. Add them to the balance the bank has for your account. Add up all the items that have not been checked off in your register and subtract them from the balance you have with the bank. This should be the total left in your account. If it isn’t, go back and make sure you checked off all the items including the deposits and the pending transactions. Make sure if your bank lists a pending transaction for gas (which some banks do) as only $1.00 and you know you spent $20.00, that you subtract the additional $19.00 from the bank's balance, otherwise you will be that much off on your balance.

4. Write your adjustments in the correct column, check amount column for subtracting adjustments, and deposit column for adding adjustments. This should balance your checkbook to the penny. Now your checkbook is ready for action again.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you check each amount of the online statement to make sure it coincides with what you have written in your register.
• The author of this article is not a professional and is not responsible for errors while performing the actions in this article.