Reconciling a bank statement each month is never a good time. Unless you’re one of those fortunate few who actually like reviewing their statements each month, you probably put off reconciling your bank statement as long as possible. In fact, some people end up with multiple months’ statements piled on their desk before they get around to going through them.
Reconciling your bank statement each month doesn’t have to be a painful experience. If you know what you’re looking for, you can get through the statement quickly and be done with it. Here’s a quick checklist to get you started:
Beginning Balance: The first, and usually easiest, thing to verify is the beginning balance of your bank account. Pull out the statement from last month and make certain that the beginning balance of your new statement matches the ending balance of the previous statement.
Deposits: Make sure that each deposit you’ve made in the previous month is recorded and that it is recorded in the correct amount. If you’ve made any unusual deposits, (maybe you received a tax refund or expense check this month), you’ll want to take extra care to ensure that those deposits are recorded on your statement.
Withdrawals: Verify that you recognize every withdrawal, whether they were at the ATM or through an electronic transfer, that’s listed on your statement. This is where keeping all of those ATM receipts will come in handy. Debit card users should also save store receipts when they “get cash back.”
Checks: Saving the hardest for last, unless you don’t write a lot of checks, you’ll need to carefully look at each check that has cleared your account. Again, you’ll not only want to verify that the check is recorded, but you’ll also want to verify that the correct amount was taken from your account.
Fees: After you’ve verified all of the transactions that have run through your bank statement, you’ll want to take a look at the fees your bank has charged you. If you’re lucky enough to have a fee-free account, count yourself lucky and skip this step. Otherwise, you’ll need to make sure that the fees you were charged match the charges you expected. Don’t forget to record these fees in your checkbook, too.
Now that you know what to look for when you’re going through your bank statement, maybe you won’t neglect your bank reconciliations quite so much. Remind yourself that all of your diligence will pay off handsomely when you avoid any silly overdraft fees caused by thinking you have more money than you do.
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