Don’t be intimidated. Balancing your checkbook does not require a degree in advanced bookkeeping. Balancing your account involves nothing more than comparing your checking balance with the bank’s balance and making sure they both reflect the same transactions. Take it one step at a time and it won’t hurt a bit.
Go through your check register and make a list of the checks you wrote that have not yet cleared. These are called “outstanding checks.”.
Add up the dollar amounts of all the outstanding checks
Make a list of any deposits you made that are not yet shown on the bank statement
Add up all the fees and charges against your account, including any ATM withdrawals and charges and automatic withdrawals (house payment, gym membership, etc.) that you hadn't entered. Subtract these amounts from your register balance.
Add interest to your register balance, plus any other credits shown on your statement but not yet written in your checkbook. This is your up-to-date checking account balance.
Update the bank's balance shown on your bank statement by adding any deposits you've made that the bank has not yet posted
Subtract the total amount of outstanding checks from the statement balance. The bank's balance should now match the one you arrived at after adding interest and subtracting fees from your checkbook register.
If they don't match:
Check the math in your check register (this is the most frequent culprit) when accounts don't balance
Check to see if the amount of each check and deposit matches the amount the bank actually subtracted from or added to your account. (You may have entered the amount incorrectly in your check register, or the bank may have misread your writing.).
Look over your deposits to verify that they're properly credited to your account
Compare the checks listed on your bank statement with your checkbook to see if you forgot to enter a check
If your account still doesn't balance, notify the bank in writing immediately
