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Finance","slug":"general-personal-finance","categoryId":34311}],"description":"When you use a checkbook, you need to know basic addition and subtraction to keep it balanced. Balancing a checkbook means you've recorded all additions (deposits) made to your account and subtractions (withdrawals). Each deposit and withdrawal is called a transaction. The purpose for balancing a checkbook is to know how much actual money you have in your checking account at any given time.\r\nWhat's a checkbook register?\r\nStep one in balancing your checkbook is to mark down all transactions in your register, which comes with your checkbook. The register is a little booklet where you write down each transaction (check, ATM withdrawal, debit card payment, or deposit.)\r\nYour register probably will have at least six columns:\r\nNumber: The check number.\r\nDate: The date you made the transaction.\r\nDescription: To whom the check was written, or if you made an ATM withdrawal, or used your debit card.\r\nAmount or debit: The exact sum of the check, withdrawal or payment.\r\nDeposit: This is where you mark down any deposits such as paychecks, money gifts (from a super-wealthy relative, perhaps?), money you may have transferred from a savings account into your checking account, and so on.\r\nBalance: The actual amount of money that's in your account. You start with an opening balance (the amount of money you had when you opened the checking account). And then, by subtracting all checks, withdrawals, payments, and bank fees, and by adding any deposits or interest payments, you will arrive at your balance for that day.\r\nCheckbook no-no: A bounced check\r\nThe lower your balance, the more important it is for you to be precise in recording all transactions; in so doing, you avoid bouncing a check. A bounced check is a check that the bank has returned (bounced back) to you because it's worthless; that is, the check is for an amount greater than the actual amount of money you have left in your account.\r\n\r\nFor example, if you send the phone company a check for $100 but your actual balance is only $75, then that check will bounce. When the phone company presents that check to your bank for payment, it will get a notice that your account has insufficient funds. Your bank will charge you a fee, in the range of $25 to $50 (this is a fee that you should ask about when opening an account) and the other party's bank will charge them a fee, as well. So bouncing a check is not only embarrassing, it can be quite costly.\r\nProtect yourself against ever bouncing a check by having overdraft protection; ask your bank if it offers this service. The bank will then honor your bounced checks, but start charging you interest, usually at a high rate, from day one.\r\nTo avoid bouncing a check, you need to know how much money is in your account, which you do by balancing your checkbook. (Going online or to an ATM to check your balance will not give you an accurate number if you have any outstanding checks, that is to say checks you've written that have not yet been presented to the bank for payment.)\r\nThe most common mistakes when keeping a checkbook\r\nThe most common mistakes when keeping a checkbook is forgetting to record each transaction, and forgetting to record it at the time it happens. Yes, your monthly bank statement will give you information on checks you've written, or an ATM withdrawal, or a debit card payment — but by the time your statement comes in, you could have written several more checks that remain outstanding.\r\n\r\nIf you always keep more money in your account than you spend every month, you'll be safe. But if your balance is usually low by the end of the month the more careful you have to be in making sure you know how much money you actually have.\r\nTo avoid making mathematical errors, buy a register cover with a built in calculator. Some even keep track of your balance for you, provided you enter all transactions.\r\nWhen your statement comes in, you should compare it to your register, fixing any mistakes, such as those times you took cash from an ATM and didn't record it when you got home. Of course, you can also just believe the bank and adjust the balance in your register to agree with the bank's closing balance on the closing date, which you can also do at any time by checking on line or at an ATM. But remember, your actual balance may be less than what the bank says if you have outstanding checks.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":275353,"data":{"title":"How to Balance a Bank Account in QuickBooks 2021","slug":"how-to-balance-a-bank-account-in-quickbooks-2021","update_time":"2021-04-06T20:29:56+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Technology","slug":"technology","categoryId":33512},{"name":"Software","slug":"software","categoryId":33618},{"name":"Money Management Software","slug":"money-management-software","categoryId":33653},{"name":"QuickBooks","slug":"quickbooks","categoryId":33656}],"description":"Balancing a bank account is remarkably easy in QuickBooks. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that if you have any problems, they stem from . . . well, sloppy record keeping that preceded your use of QuickBooks.\r\n\r\nEnough of this blather. I get started by describing how you reconcile an account.\r\nGive QuickBooks information from the bank statement\r\nIn a reconciliation, as you probably know, you compare your records of a bank account with the bank’s records of the same account. You should be able to explain any difference between the two accounts — usually by pointing to checks you wrote that haven’t yet cleared. (Sometimes, deposits fall into the same category; you record a deposit and mail it, but the bank hasn’t yet credited your account.)\r\n\r\nThe first step, then, is supplying the bank’s account information to QuickBooks. You get this information from your monthly statement. Give QuickBooks the figures it needs, as follows:\r\n\r\n 1. Choose Banking→Reconcile, or click the Reconcile icon on the home screen.\r\nQuickBooks displays the Begin Reconciliation dialog box, as shown.\r\nIf you have several bank accounts, you may have to choose the account you want to reconcile.\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_275358\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"556\"] The Begin Reconciliation dialog box[/caption]\r\n\r\n 2. If the bank account shown isn’t the one you want to reconcile, open the Account drop-down menu, and choose the correct account.\r\n\r\n 3. Enter the bank statement date in the Statement Date text box.\r\nYou can adjust a date one day at a time by using the plus (+) and minus (–) keys. You can also click the Calendar button at the right end of the Statement Date text box to select a date from the calendar.\r\nSee the online Cheat Sheet for a list of other secret date-editing tricks.\r\n 4. Verify the bank statement opening balance.\r\nQuickBooks displays an amount in the Beginning Balance section of the screen.\r\n 5. Enter the ending balance from your bank statement in the Ending Balance text box.\r\n\r\n 6. Enter the bank’s service charge.\r\nIf the bank statement shows a service charge, and you haven’t already entered it, move the cursor to the Service Charge text box, and type the amount. (Type 10 for a $10 service charge, for example.)\r\n 7. Enter a transaction date for the service-charge transaction.\r\nQuickBooks adds one month to the service-charge date from the last time you reconciled. If this date isn’t correct, type the correct one.\r\n 8. Assign the bank’s service charge to an account.\r\nEnter the expense account to which you assign bank service charges in the first Account text box — the one beside the Date text box. Activate the drop-down menu by clicking the down arrow, highlight the category by using the arrow keys, and then press Enter. I’ll bet anything that you record these charges in the Bank Service Charges account that QuickBooks sets up by default.\r\nIf you told QuickBooks that you also want to track income and expense amounts by using classes, QuickBooks adds Class text boxes to the Begin Reconciliation dialog box so that you can collect this information.\r\n 9. Enter the account’s interest income.\r\nIf the account earned interest for the month, and you haven’t already entered this figure, type an amount in the Interest Earned text box.\r\n 10. Enter a transaction date for the interest income transaction.\r\nYou already know how to enter dates. I won’t bore you by explaining it again (but see step 3 if you have trouble).\r\n 11. Assign the interest to an account.\r\nIn the second Account text box, enter the account to which this account’s interest should be assigned. I bet that you record this one under the Interest Income account, which is near the bottom of the Account drop-down menu. To choose a category from the Account menu, activate the menu by clicking the down arrow, highlight the category, and then press Enter.\r\n 12. Click the Continue button.\r\nQuickBooks displays the Reconcile window, as shown.\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_275356\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"556\"] The Reconcile window[/caption]\r\nMark cleared checks and deposits\r\nIn the Reconcile window, you tell QuickBooks which deposits and checks have cleared at the bank. (Refer to your bank statement for this information.) Follow these steps:\r\n\r\n 1. Identify the first deposit that has cleared.\r\nYou know how to do this, I’m sure. Just leaf through the bank statement to find the first deposit listed.\r\n 2. Mark the first cleared deposit as cleared.\r\nScroll through the transactions listed in the Deposits and Other Credits section of the Reconcile window, find the deposit, and then click it. Alternatively, you can highlight the deposit by using the Tab or arrow keys and then pressing the spacebar. QuickBooks places a check mark in front of the deposit to mark it as cleared and updates the cleared statement balance.\r\nIf you have a large number of deposits to clear, and you can identify them quickly, click the Mark All button and then simply unmark the transactions that aren’t on the bank statement. To unmark a transaction, click it. The check mark disappears.\r\n 3. Record any cleared but missing deposits.\r\nIf you can’t find a deposit in the Reconcile window, you haven’t entered it into the register yet. I can only guess why you haven’t entered it. Maybe you just forgot. Close or deactivate the Reconcile window by clicking the Leave button. Now open the register and enter the deposit in the register in the usual way. To return to the Reconcile window, either reopen it or reactivate it. Or, if you like, choose Banking→Make Deposits and open the deposit screen right on top of the Reconcile window. Record the deposit and then click the Save & Close button. When you open the Reconcile window again, the deposit appears in the Deposits and Other Credits area.\r\n 4. Repeat steps 1–3 for all deposits listed on the bank statement.\r\nMake sure that the dates match and that the amounts of the deposits are correct. If they’re not, go back to the transactions to correct them. To get to a transaction, click the Go To button. You see the Write Checks or Make Deposits window where the transaction was originally recorded. Make the corrections there and then click Save & Close. You return to the Reconcile window.\r\n 5. Identify the first check that has cleared.\r\nNo sweat, right? Just find the first check or withdrawal listed on the bank statement.\r\nQuickBooks enables you to sort the transactions listed in the Reconcile window by clicking the column headings in the Checks and Payments section and in the Deposits and Other Credits section. You may want to experiment a bit with this handy feature. Sorting and re-sorting transactions — particularly in high-transaction volume bank accounts — often eases the work of reconciling a bank account.\r\n 6. Mark the first cleared check as cleared.\r\nScroll through the transactions listed in the Checks and Payments section of the Reconcile window; find the first check; and then click it. You also can highlight it by pressing Tab and an arrow key. Then press the spacebar. QuickBooks inserts a check mark to label this transaction as cleared and updates the cleared statement balance.\r\n 7. Record any missing but cleared checks.\r\nIf you can’t find a check or withdrawal in QuickBooks, guess what? You haven’t entered it in the register yet. Close or deactivate the Reconcile window by clicking its Leave button or by activating another window. Then display the register and enter the check or withdrawal. To return to the Reconcile window, reopen or reactivate it. Or you can choose Banking→Write Checks, create the check right on top of the Reconcile window, and then click Save & Close to return to the Reconcile screen and carry on from where you left off.\r\n 8. Repeat steps 5–7 for all withdrawals listed on the bank statement.\r\nThese steps don’t take very long. Reconciling my account each month takes me about two minutes. I’m not joking or exaggerating. By two minutes, I really mean two minutes.\r\n\r\nIf the difference equals zero\r\nAfter you mark all the cleared checks and deposits, the difference between the Cleared Balance for the account and the bank statement’s Ending Balance should equal zero. Notice that I said should—not will. The background window in the above figure is a Reconcile window in which everything is hunky-dory. See that there’s zero difference in the bottom-right corner of the Reconcile window in the above figure? That means your bank account and QuickBooks file are in sync. If the difference is small, look for small differences between the amounts of the checks in the register and the actual cleared checks in the bank statement. If you find a discrepancy with a particular check, click the Go To button to go to the check and change the amount. Click Save & Close to go right back to the Reconcile window.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_275355\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"369\"] The Select Reconciliation Report dialog box[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf the difference does equal zero, you’re finished. Click the Reconcile Now button. QuickBooks displays a congratulatory message box (see figure above) telling you that the reconciliation is complete. As a reward for being such a good boy or girl, the message box asks whether you want to print a free, all-expenses-paid Summary or Detail reconciliation report. Click Summary or Detail and then click OK if you want to print the report; otherwise, just click Close.\r\nCan’t decide whether to print the reconciliation report? Unless you’re a business bookkeeper or an accountant who is reconciling a bank account for someone else — your employer or a client, for example — you don’t need to print the reconciliation report. All that printing does is prove that you reconciled the account. (Basically, this proof is the reason why you should print the report if you’re a bookkeeper or an accountant. The person for whom you’re reconciling the account will know that you did your job and will have a piece of paper to refer to later with any questions.) Also, you can always come back and print the report later, if necessary. To access the reconciliation reports that QuickBooks saved, choose Reports→Banking→Previous Reconciliation.\r\nNow each deposit, withdrawal, and check that you cleared is marked with a check mark in your register. If you don’t believe me, open the register and find out.\r\nIf the difference doesn’t equal zero\r\nIf the difference doesn’t equal zero, you have a problem. If you click the Reconcile Now button, QuickBooks shows you the Reconcile Adjustment dialog box, shown below. This dialog box tells you how unbalanced your account is and asks whether you want to adjust your maladjusted account.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_275354\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"556\"] The Reconcile Adjustment dialog box[/caption]\r\n\r\nClick the Return to Reconcile button if you want to go back to the Reconcile window and start the search for the missing or incorrectly entered transaction.\r\nIf you want to force the two amounts to agree, click OK. Forcing the two amounts to agree isn’t a very good idea. To do so, QuickBooks adds a cleared transaction equal to the difference.\r\nPostponing a reconciliation (by clicking the Leave Reconcile button) and not choosing to adjust the bank account balance usually is the best approach, because you can locate and correct the problem later, when you have fresh eyes. Then you can restart the reconciliation and finish your work. (You restart a reconciliation the same way that you originate one.)","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":240164,"data":{"title":"How to Write a Check","slug":"how-to-write-a-check","update_time":"2017-06-05T20:07:42+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Personal Finance","slug":"personal-finance","categoryId":34273},{"name":"General Personal Finance","slug":"general-personal-finance","categoryId":34311}],"description":"Filling out a check may seem completely foreign to you if, like most people, you use an ATM card, check card, or debit card with a security pin to pay your bills. Despite the convenience of online bill paying and the conveniences of modern banking, most places still accept paper checks today, and you probably need to know how to write (and read or interpret) checks.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_240165\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"267\"] YinYang/iStockphoto[/caption]\r\n\r\nSimply follow these easy steps to fill out a check correctly the first time, every time.\r\n\r\n\tClearly write the name of the recipient in the \"Pay to\" or \"Pay to the order of\" space.\r\n\tFill in the date in the \"Date\" space provided.\r\n\tFill out the amount you wish to write the check in the \"$\" box and \"Amount\" line provided.\r\n\tIn the \"Memo\" space, indicate why the check is being written.\r\n\tSign the check so it is valid and cashable.\r\n\r\nAll checks have the same information on them so that banks know what to do with them when they cash them. You will find preprinted information or fields to supply the following basic information on all paper checks:\r\n\r\n\tAccount holder\r\n\tRecipient\r\n\tDate\r\n\tAmount\r\n\tMemo\r\n\tSignatures\r\n\tAccount, routing, and check numbers\r\n\r\nChecking account holder\r\nThe account holder information is usually preprinted in the top left corner of the check. If it's your checking account, this information will be your name, address, and phone number. If you are cashing the check, the account holder info will be of the person or business that issued you the check.\r\n\r\nIf you recently opened a new bank account, often they will provide you with temporary checks until the official ones are sent to you. These checks do not have preprinted account holder information and can sometimes be difficult to cash.\r\nRecipient information\r\nJust below the account holder information is a blank line that you would use to clearly fill in the name of the person or business to whom you are writing the check. Usually labeled as \"Pay to\" or \"Pay to the order of.\" If the check is meant for you to cash it, your name will be written or typed in this space.\r\nYou can give your checks more than one recipient. If you put the word \"and\" between two names, both people will need to sign the check to cash it. If you put the word \"or\" between the two names, either person can sign and cash the check.\r\nMost banks no longer accept checks made out to \"Cash\" as the recipient due to recent identity theft concerns.\r\nDate field on checks\r\nAn empty date box can usually be found right and slightly above the recipient line. If the check was issued to you, the \"Date\" box will already be filled in. Checks can be pre-dated, current-dated, or post-dated.\r\nNo matter what date you select, just make sure the funds were/are available on the date indicated to avoid a returned check for insufficient funds also known as a bounced check. Depending on the bank, insufficient fund fees are exorbitant and can range from $25 up to $40 per returned check; this can add up quickly! Banks often offer bounce protection if you link your checking account with a savings account.\r\nChecks that are returned, if several occur, may become part of a check fraud investigation, resulting in possible jail time. Only write checks that you have money in your account to cover. You can keep track of your spending through online statements or by manually filling out the check register in the back of the checkbook.\r\n\r\nAmount of check\r\nAll checks have two spaces for the amount. The first amount space is a blank line labeled \"Amount.\" The second space is a box labeled with a dollar sign \"$.\" On the blank line, write out the amount in word format. In the box write the same amount in number format. For example:\r\n$2,456.34, Two thousand four hundred fifty-six dollars and thirty-four cents.\r\n\r\nOR\r\n\r\n$2,456.34, Two thousand four hundred fifty-six dollars and 34/100.\r\nUsually people use the fraction for cents because the space provided for all this writing is never large enough.\r\n\r\nMemo line on checks\r\nFound in the bottom left corner, a blank space is provided labeled \"Memo.\" This space indicates what the check's intentions are. Although most people leave this area blank, it is a good idea to fill in why you are writing the check.\r\n\r\nIf the check is a gift, make sure to indicate it by writing gift in the memo line. Same goes for bill pay.\r\nIf the money/check is a loan, always indicate that it is a loan. Indicating a loan ensures that the person accepting the money will pay it back and not claim it was a gift.\r\n\r\nSignature lines on your check\r\nUsually one signature line is provided on the bottom right corner of the front of the check and one space is indicated on the back of the check. These are the most important spaces. If no signatures are present, no bank will cash the check. The front of the check must be endorsed by the account holder, and the back of the check must be endorsed by the check recipient.\r\nNever endorse a blank check. Signing your name to a blank check is irresponsible; it provides an easy way for criminals to wipe-out your bank account.\r\n\r\nChecking account and routing numbers\r\nThe account number links the check to a specific bank account. The routing number is the number assigned to the bank from which the check was issued. Both numbers need to be on the check for the bank to know from where to secure the funds. These numbers are always along the bottom of the check so machines can read them. Sometimes a third set of numbers follows the account and routing numbers. This set of numbers is for the account holder and indicates the check number for easier tracking and bookkeeping purposes.\r\nCashier's checks, money orders, payroll checks, and traveler's checks have all this information. The layout may be a little different form one check to another, but the concept is basically the same.\r\nKeep in mind, with nonpersonal checks usually the \"Amount\" spaces are already filled in for you.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":157462,"data":{"title":"Financial Reports: How to Read the Balance Sheet for Accounts Receivable","slug":"financial-reports-how-to-read-the-balance-sheet-for-accounts-receivable","update_time":"2016-03-26T13:20:19+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"Accounting","slug":"accounting","categoryId":34226},{"name":"Calculation & Analysis","slug":"calculation-analysis","categoryId":34229}],"description":"Any company that allows its customers to buy on credit has an accounts receivable line on its balance sheet. On a financial report, accounts receivable is a collection of individual customer accounts listing money that customers owe the company for products or services they've already received.\nA company must carefully monitor not only whether a customer pays, but also how quickly she pays. If a customer makes her payments later and later, the company must determine whether to allow her to get additional credit or to block further purchases.\nAlthough the sales may look good, a nonpaying customer hurts a company because she's taking out — and failing to pay for — inventory that another customer could've bought. Too many nonpaying or late-paying customers can severely hurt a company's cash-flow position, which means the firm may not have the cash it needs to pay the bills.\nComparing a company's accounts receivable line over a number of years gives you a good idea of how well the company is doing collecting late-paying customers’ accounts. Although you may see a company report positive sales numbers and a major increase in sales, if the accounts-receivable number is also rising rapidly, the business may be having trouble collecting the money on those accounts.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":145733,"data":{"title":"How to Ensure Ending Cash Is Right","slug":"how-to-ensure-ending-cash-is-right","update_time":"2016-03-26T08:12:03+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"Accounting","slug":"accounting","categoryId":34226},{"name":"Bookkeeping","slug":"bookkeeping","categoryId":34228}],"description":"Testing your books starts with counting your cash. Why start with cash? Because the accounting process starts with transactions, and transactions occur when cash exchanges hands either to buy things you need to run the business or to sell your products or services.\nBefore you can even begin to test whether the books are right, you need to know if your books have captured what’s happened to your company’s cash and if the amount of cash shown in your books actually matches the amount of cash you have on hand.\nYou’ve heard the well-worn expression, “Show me the money!” Well, in business, that idea is the core of your success. Everything relies on your cash profits that you can take out of your business or use to expand your business.\nThe daily process of proving out cash taken in by cashiers gives a business good control of the point at which cash comes into the business from customers who buy the company’s products or services. It also measures any cash refunds that were given to customers who returned items. But the points of sale and return aren’t the only times cash comes into or goes out of the business.\nIf your business sells products on store credit, some of the cash from customers is actually collected at a later point in time by the bookkeeping staff responsible for tracking customer credit accounts. And when your business needs something, whether products to be sold or supplies needed by various departments, you must pay cash to vendors, suppliers, and contractors.\nSometimes cash is paid out on the spot, but many times the bill is recorded in the Accounts Payable account and paid at a later date. All these transactions involve the use of cash, so the amount of cash on hand in the business at any one time includes not only what’s in the cash registers but also what’s on deposit in the company’s bank accounts.\nYou need to know the balances of those accounts and test those balances to be sure they’re accurate and match what’s in your company’s books.\nSo your snapshot in time includes not only the cash on hand in your cash registers but also any cash you may have in the bank. Some departments may also have petty cash accounts, which means you total that cash as well. The total cash figure is what you show as an asset named “Cash” on the first line of your company’s financial statement, the balance sheet.\nThe balance sheet shows all that the company owns (its assets) and owes (its liabilities) as well as the equity the owners have in the company. \nThe actual cash you have on hand is just one tiny piece of the cash moving through your business during the accounting period. The true detail of what cash has flowed into and out of the business is in your cash journals. Closing those are the next step in the process of figuring out how well your business did.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null}]},"relatedArticlesStatus":"success"},"routeState":{"name":"Article3","path":"/article/business-careers-money/personal-finance/general-personal-finance/how-to-balance-a-checkbook-187228/","hash":"","query":{},"params":{"category1":"business-careers-money","category2":"personal-finance","category3":"general-personal-finance","article":"how-to-balance-a-checkbook-187228"},"fullPath":"/article/business-careers-money/personal-finance/general-personal-finance/how-to-balance-a-checkbook-187228/","meta":{"routeType":"article","breadcrumbInfo":{"suffix":"Articles","baseRoute":"/category/articles"},"prerenderWithAsyncData":true},"from":{"name":null,"path":"/","hash":"","query":{},"params":{},"fullPath":"/","meta":{}}},"dropsState":{"submitEmailResponse":false,"status":"initial"},"sfmcState":{"status":"initial"},"profileState":{"auth":{},"userOptions":{},"status":"success"}}{"data":{"status":"Internal server error: String cannot be of zero length. 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