Bank mistake?

I am in the practice of balancing our checking accounts monthly. It is very easy using Quicken and Quick Books for our business checking. I write checks by hand and enter them into the computer regularly. I trust the computer to do the math most of the time.

Our personal account has a statement cut off other than month end. The statement arrived on Wednesday. Since it only takes a few minutes on the computer to check off the deposits and checks against the bank, I worked on it right after receiving the mail.

Oops! A deposit was listed by the bank as different from my entries by $.55. I called the bank and they mailed me a copy of the check that I had deposited about 10 days before. I was confused because I have the deposit slip from the teller which stated the amount I had recorded.

I was surprised the bank had a photocopy of the check I deposited. Sure enough, the bank was right. The teller just didn't catch the mistake when presented with my deposit and endorsed check.

At least the mistake was a small one. It would have been a big problem if the difference had been $ and not cents. I keep the checking account balance fairly low as it is so easy to move $ from the passbook to the checking. The passbook doesn't pay much interest but it is larger than the amount attached to the checking account.

Bottom line: balancing the checkbook should be a regular habit. Watching all $ accounts is important.

Another point: The bank paid to mail me the photocopy. Their costs included the labor, paper, envelope, copier supplies and postage. All just costs of doing business but to prove the $.55 mistake was mine.

'til later