What is checkbook reconciliation?

At the end of the month you do a checkbook reconciliation in order to balance your checkbook to ensure that the balance agrees with what the bank says is in your account.

You do this by totaling all the checks you wrote for the month, along with any charges the bank has levied such as the cost of writing the checks etc, and deducting them from the previous month's balance. Then you add up all your deposits for the same period, and your checkbook balance should agree with what the bank says you now have in your account.

Checks are fast becoming obsolete for most people as they move to on-line banking and are paying their bills electronically.