How Do You Balance Your Checkbook? Your roommate, Samuel, is embarrassed. He: has never before had a checking account, but he finally opened one last month, He's standing in the doorway of the kitchen with his check register in one hand and his recently arrived bank statement in the other. Admitting that he doesn't know what to do next, he's asked for your help in learning how to reconcile, or balance, his checkbook. Being both a good friend and a student of personal finance, you've agreed to walk Samuel through the process. Moreover, knowing the value of asking and answering good questions when learning how to do something, Samuel agreed to answer your questions about the process. 5AMUEL: Thanks for helping me with this bank statement thing. 50 , where do we start? YoU: Let's start with some preliminary questions, 171 ask and you answer, and well agree on some fundamentals about recoaciling bank accounts. S0, why is it a good idea to reconcle your bank account or balance your checkbook? SAMUEL: According to my personal finance book, roconciling iny account will help me spot potentiat errors in the bank statement of my own records, and it will verify my account's actual balance as of the You: You're absolutely correcti Now, according to the experts, how frequently should a bank reconciliatian be performed, and how frequently should ongoing or between-statement deposits and withdrawals be verifed with the bank? SAMueLt That's an easy one, I remember reading that I should reconcle my bank account but I should verify my ongoing depost and withdrawal transactions online every couple of days. Youi That's right Now that you've got the fundamentals under control, let's go through the actual process of balancing the checkbook, Fourth State Bank of San Francisco, CA Statement of Account Samuel's Account Ledger Ilkinn the documentation from the bank and from Samuel's check register, construct the bank reconciliation statement for September 29. Using the documentation from the bank and from Samuel's check register, construct the bank reconciliation statement for September 29. (Note: Any items that you enter into the bank reconciliation statement should be entered in the order in which they appeared on the account ledger and bank statement.)