How to Fill Out a Check Register

Filling out a check or spending the money is the easy part of a checking account. Keeping tracking of it in your register is the important and often the forgotten one. A check register is only as good as it is accurate. Anyone who has a checking account must know how to correctly fill out a check register. All it takes is a little fundamental math.

Instructions

1. Understand the need to have your check register current. If you don't keep up with filling in the register with all of the financial details, you can soon be spending money you don't have. It's very easy to forget about small deductions or automatic ones that come out of your checking account. You must maintain your check register as your income changes in it.

2. Know what to include in the register. Check registers should be kept even if you do not actually write any checks. Any time you make any type of financial transaction with your checking account, it must be written in the register. This includes any transactions with your ATM (debit or check) card in person or online. If you do not have the register with you while you are making these transactions, either keep the receipts or make a note of the details. You should have a name (business), an amount, a date and a reason (memo) for each register entry. It is up to you how detailed you want this to be.

3. Identify the parts of a check register. The registers will vary slightly from different financial institutions but will look the same in most cases. It will begin on the upper right with a "balance". This should be the amount of money available in your checking account. The register will have several lines in alternating colors of white and gray. Each line has a place for the date; check number, description of the transaction, a debit (deduction) or credit (deposit) amount and a running balance. Each of these has a separate column.

4. Fill out the check register using the two-line method. Use the top line to write the name of the person or company of where the money went or came from. Write what it was for on the second line beneath. Note the amount in the correct column (either debit or credit) on the top line. Write this same amount directly under the balance. Either add for a deposit or subtract for an expense this amount from the balance. Write this figure in the second line. This is the new balance of the checking account. Repeat this process for each transaction.

5. Use the one-line approach to fill out your check register. You can cut down on the needed writing and make a register last a lot longer by only using one line per transaction. You will have to write all of the details on a single line and figure your balance differently. You will have to do the math by joining the two transaction amounts. Put this figure in the top line of the balance column and calculate the new balance. You could also do each one separately, but you may need to write the amounts down to figure it. This method is good for people who do not have problems with math calculations, but it could become complicated for those who do.