There are definitely unpleasant parts of running a business or even your personal finances. One of the most essential ways of keeping up with money in both arenas is balancing the books. You must make sure that you are spending no more than what is coming into the household or the company. Reconciling your accounts with the balances given by the bank is imperative to maintaining good financial health.

Keeping the Accounts in Check

Most businesses and personal accounts use bank checking accounts to maintain control and monitoring of cash. Cash received is placed in the account, and whenever the money is paid out, checks are written. The transactions should be meticulously recorded on the part of the business or individual. Records need to be made in the checkbook, denoting the check number that was used, the amount the check was written for and any other pertinent information that must be recorded. It is often helpful to have duplicate checks and to use the same color of ink repeatedly to keep records consistent.

How to Reconcile Accounts

The first thing that needs to be done when balancing a checking account, be it personal or business is comparing the checks that are on the statement against those that are in your register. Check off the checks that have been processed through the bank according to your statement, but be sure to subtract checks that have not been processed from your bank statement.

Then, be sure to compare the deposits that you have made according to your records with the banks statement. Banks are not infallible. They make mistakes and the mistakes can cost you if you do not catch them. Finally, make sure that your debit card record is up to date. With online purchasing of office supplies and the swiping of plastic becoming so popular, it is not hard to believe that ATM records can fall through the cracks. These tips may be difficult to keep up with, but they are necessary for a healthy checkbook.