Do you trust your bank too much?

By all appearances, it seems that today’s Millennial generation doesn’t understand the value of regularly reconciling their bank account, but they are not alone.  

The general mindset is:

“If it shows a credit balance online, there must be money to spend” 

This may seem sensible since they are not writing checks as much as previous generations and they trust the bank’s math.

Expecting that the bank’s numbers are 100% correct is your mistake!  

It is not uncommon to find double taken debits, fraudulent charges, and other inappropriate charges. Believe it or not, banks are not perfect! I can personally testify over and over to the worthwhile rigors of reconciling your accounts. Double charges by reputable companies happen and then you have those disreputable ones that are in your bank account.  

I literally have seen bank errors of hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. 

I have seen car payments debited twice. I actually witnessed one business deposit alone of $12,500 that was missed entirely by the bank and the client, until the bank reconciliation was done months later. This amount was 10% of a very astute businessperson’s annual income yet it completely fell through the cracks unnoticed. 

While you think you would miss such a deposit, these people thought they would too!   

People today are busy and they don’t realize the many benefits reconciling your accounts can provide. You should do this for your credit accounts as well as your bank accounts. 

Reconciling is very easy if you are using a software package.  I recommend Quicken for personal use and QuickBooks for your business to make your life simpler.

In addition to finding mistakes and fraud, reconciling your accounts will give you a proper handle on managing your business, get your books ready for the tax preparer and give your book’s credibility with the IRS and the bank when applying for that loan! 

But most of all, as business owners and personal managers, we need to know where our hard-earned money is going.   

You receive a great return for a few minutes of effort!