In order to keep track of bank account balances, businesses and individuals, often use a check or transaction register. This can be done on paper or using software.
We are going to go through an example of what this looks like on paper, and then we will take a quick look at an example done using excel.
A transaction or check register on paper typically looks like this, with 7 columns on top. The first column is the check number or transaction type, the second column
is the date of the transaction, next is a column for the description of the transaction. The next column is the amount of withdrawal, if the transaction was a withdrawal of
funds. And next is a column for a check mark, and this is used when you do a bank statement reconciliation, which I will cover in a future video.
The next column is an amount of deposit or credit to the account, and the last column is the balance of the account. The first row of the register lists the titles of
the columns, which we just covered, and the second row is for the opening balance, or the balance brought forward from the previous register.
Let’s say that this is an individual account, and the current balance is $2213.56. Now we are going to go through several typical types of transactions.
On 7, 13, July 13th this person bought groceries at the Pearson supermarket for $85.12 and paid with their debit card. To register this transaction,
we write in electronic in column 1, as this was an electronic transaction, then 7 forward slash 13 in the date column, then Pearson supermarket in the transaction
description column. Since this transaction was a withdrawal of funds, in the amount of withdrawal column, we write in the amount, which was $85.12.
And in the last column, the balance column, we are going to write in the new account balance after the transaction, which will be $2213.56 minus $85.12,
and that is $2128.44. Now let’s say that this person writes a check, numbered 1104, for $68 on 7, 15, for their monthly auto insurance payment. To register this,
we write in the check number of 1104 in column 1, 7/15 for the date, Central car insurance in the description column, $68.00 in the withdrawal column.
And then the new balance in the balance column, which is $2128.44 minus $68.00, and that is $2060.44. Next, I have put in a couple of more electronic and check
transactions, similar to the ones we just covered. Now, let’s say that it is payday. On 7, 22, this person deposits their paycheck for $750.00 in their account at the bank.
To register this transaction we put the date, 7/22 in the date column, we write deposit in the description column and then $750.00 in the amount of deposit column.
Next, we calculate the new balance, $1878.51 plus $750.00, which is $2628.51, so we put that in the balance column. Now we are going to go through 2 more types
of transactions, the first is an auto pay of $12.99 that is made on the 25th of each month for the streaming service of Online tv. For the transaction type,
we can put electronic or auto, and then, as before, put in the date, description, amount of withdrawal, and the new balance of $2628.51 minus $12.99, which is $2615.52.
The second transaction is an electronic deposit from a side hustle this person does of selling online courses. This varies each month, and is typically deposited on the 28th
of each month. This month that total deposited was $222.44. So, we fill in the date, 7/28, then the description, the amount of deposit and then the new balance
of $2615.52 plus $222.44, which equals $2837.96. And 2 other transactions that can occur from time to time are voided checks and bank fees, which I have written into
the register. And, actually, there are many different types of transactions that occur over a given period of time, so it is important to update the register consistently.
Once a register is full, you carry over the balance to a new register, and it is a good idea to keep old registers for a period of time in case any discrepancies occur
in the future. And lastly, here is an example of a register I created in excel. These can be easier to use, especially when you learn the basic addition and subtraction
functions in excel. And it is a good idea to also save this file to a thumb drive or an external hard drive as a backup. And that is the basics of keeping a check
or transaction register. Alright my friends, hopefully you got something out of this video, I do have more videos right there for you, till next time, I am outta here.