What’s the purpose of balancing or monitoring your checking account?

The purpose of balancing your checking account is to calculate how much money you have in your account. Monitoring your checking account helps you track your spending and uncover fraud in a timely manner. By comparing checks that have cleared your account to those you’ve recorded in your checking register, you can also quickly detect if a check you mailed was lost in transit.

Balancing your account can ensure you do not spend more than what it is in your account, so you don’t incur overdraft fees.

To balance your account, take your starting balance and add up all your deposits and withdrawals. The result will be your current balance. This can help you find fraudulent transactions, unnecessary bank fees and help you budget better.