How to Balance a Checkbook: Reconcile With Your Bank Statement Step by Step

Short answer: take your latest bank statement, write down its closing date and ending balance, then check off every transaction in your register that also appears on the statement. Add up what is still not cleared. When the statement balance plus or minus the uncleared items equals your register balance, your checkbook is balanced.

Why your register and the bank disagree

Your register and the bank are almost never equal on a given day, and that is normal. A check you wrote yesterday has not been cashed yet. A card payment can take a few days to post. A deposit you made on Friday may show on Monday. The bank also adds things you never wrote down: monthly fees, interest, or an automatic payment you forgot about. Balancing a checkbook means explaining every one of those differences, so you know the money you think you have is really there.

What you need

• Your latest bank statement (paper, PDF or the statement view in your bank's app).
• Your checkbook register with every check, card payment, deposit and transfer for the period.
• About ten minutes, if you do it once a month.

Step by step

1. Find the two numbers on the statement. The statement closing date and the ending balance. This is "the bank balance" for reconciling. Do not use today's balance in your bank's app; it already includes newer activity.
2. Check off what cleared. Go down the statement line by line. For each deposit, check, card payment and fee, find the same entry in your register and mark it as cleared.
3. Add anything you missed. If the statement shows a bank fee, interest or a payment that is not in your register, add it now, then check it off.
4. Look at what is left. Entries in your register dated on or before the closing date that are not on the statement are outstanding: usually checks not yet cashed or deposits still in transit.
5. Do the math. Statement ending balance, minus outstanding withdrawals, plus outstanding deposits, should equal your register balance as of the closing date. The gap between the two is the difference.
6. Get the difference to zero. If it is not zero, something is missing or mistyped. See the checklist below.

When the difference will not go to zero

• Divisible by 9? Two digits are probably swapped, for example 54.30 typed as 45.30.
• Exactly twice an amount? A deposit was entered as a withdrawal, or the other way round.
• A small odd number? Look for a fee, interest or a rounding difference on a card payment.
• Same amount as one entry? That entry was checked off twice, or is in the register twice.
• Still stuck? Compare the starting balance. If last month was never balanced, the difference may be older than this statement.

How Penvale helps

Penvale has a Balance with bank wizard that follows these exact steps. You enter the statement closing date and the statement ending balance, then check off each transaction that appears on the statement. A Difference number counts down as you check. When it reaches zero, Penvale tells you your checkbook matches the bank, and you tap Finish. If something is missing, you add it from the register and keep going. The balance card on the main screen also shows Cleared at bank and Not cleared yet side by side, so between statements you can see at a glance how much is still in transit. You can turn on Hide cleared transactions to see only the open items.

FAQ

Related guides

• Checkbook register backups and changing phones
• Recurring bills, paychecks and refunds in a register

This guide is general information, not financial advice. Penvale is not affiliated with any bank; balances are calculated from what you enter.

Get Penvale: a checkbook register that counts the difference down to zero (Google Play)

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