Basic steps to balance a checkbook:

1. Compare your checkbook register to your bank statement. Review all checks and debits (ATM wtihdrawals, Point of Sale (POS) transactions, automatic payments, transfers and fees the bank may have charged you). Place a check mark by each as you match them up from your statement to your register.
2. Compare all of the deposits (including interest the bank may have paid you and fees credited back to your account). Place a check mark by each as you match them up.
3. The checks and deposits which have not yet cleared your account (and are not shown on the statement) are considered outstanding items. Add these outstanding checks together, and then add the outstanding deposits together. Do the same for debits and deposits not shown on your statement. You'll use these totals in a minute.
   
   
   1. Deposits shown on my register, not on my statement: $________________________
      
   2. Bank fees shown on my statement, not on my register: $________________________
      
   3. Checks outstanding on my statement total $________________________
      
   4. Interest outstanding on my statement total $________________________
      
   
   
4. Write your balance as shown on your check register here: $________________________
5. Combine your outstanding deposits and fees from (A) and (B) above here: $________________________
6. Subtract line 5 from line 4 to deduct deposits and fees: $________________________
   
   
7. Add your outstanding debits and interest from your statement (C) and (D) above here: $________________________
8. Add line 6 to line 7 here: $________________________
   This is your account balance. It should agree with the ending balance on your statement.

Helpful Hints When Balancing Your Accounts

• Keep your register up to date. Use a calendar and add any transfers you have coming out to your register, such as checks, ATM withdrawals, other transfers, club memberships, insurance or loan payments.
• Most banks offer internet banking or telephone banking at no cost. Check your balance frequently, even daily. This helps you double check that you're keeping your register up to date. You'll spot problems fastest doing this.
• If you see a transaction on your statement that isn't yours, call your bank immediately, whether it's a check or a deposit.
• Even if you know you haven't made any transfers in the last statement cycle, balance your checking and savings accounts. A charge may have been made to your account in error. It happens! And you may have a hard time getting your money back if you do not call your bank promptly.
• If you don't balance, double check the ATM withdrawals, POS transfers, automatic debits, bank fees and interest credited. Look for older items, like a check you wrote months ago that still hasn't cleared.
• If you use internet banking for bill pay, know which account you are paying a bill from, when you have more than one deposit account there. It is easy to use a drop-down menu and incorrectly select the default "Savings" instead of "Checking" account as the source of the payment.
• If you can divide the difference between the bank statement and your checkbook register evenly by 2, you may have added when you should have subtracted. Verify the math in your register.
• If you can divide the difference between the bank statement and your checkbook register evenly by 9, you probably transposed numerals when you made an entry (i.e., $83 instead of $38). Check the figures in your checkbook register against your statement.
• When your check has processed through your account, the dollar amount of the check is encoded on the bottom-right. If that encoded amount differs from what you wrote the check for, that is a part of your problem. It means the bank took out more or less than what you intended. It could be caused by a bank entry error or difficulty in reading your penmanship. the error may have to be resolved with a call to the bank.