This process also requires the regular habit of recording your transactions in your register as you make them. When you find the balances don’t match, you use the two records, your own register and the bank’s, to identify where it is different and why. When you balance a checkbook, you start with the final balance your bank statement has and then check this against the current balance you have in your checkbook register. What Does Balancing a Checkbook Mean?īalancing your checkbook involves comparing your check register with your regular bank statements to ensure no discrepancies.
In this article, we’ll look at what balancing a checkbook is, reasons why you should still balance your checkbook even today, and how to it.
It is the way you ensure that you and the bank agree on what your current account balance should be.īalancing your checkbook is also part of being a responsible manager of your personal finances, as we will discuss in more detail. So why would we need to balance our checkbook manually? What does balancing a checkbook even mean?īalancing a checkbook is the process of comparing your personal check register with your bank statement and ensuring that you and the bank have the same balance on record. After all, any bank will offer online banking where we can check our balance and transactions, and there are plenty of software offerings to help us manage our budgets and track spending. What Does It Mean to Balance a Checkbook?Īt first glance, “balancing a checkbook” can seem like an antiquated notion when considering all the high-tech solutions available to track and manage our accounts.