Checking acct transaction dates?

[Derek Atkins]

Joel Konkle-Parker <jjk3 at msstate.edu> writes:

> I'm curious about how most people date their checking account
> transactions. As far as I know, there are two possibilities: dating by
> when the transaction was physically performed (Sunday morning when you
> bought gas), or dating by when the transaction was cleared with the bank
> (Monday when it showed up in your statement). Unless you do all your
> banking at the branch on a weekday morning, these two dates could be
> days apart.
>
> I've done it both ways. I started out by using bank dates, which tells
> me exactly when money entered and exited my account. Then, for reasons
> I've since forgotten, I switched to physical transaction dates, which
> tells me basically what I was doing when the money was spent.
>
> What do you do, and why?

Date the transaction when you make it.  Mark it "cleared" once it
hits your bank account.  This way at any time you have a clear
idea of your expected balance in the account on a particular date.

For Electronic Billpay transactions I set the date to the date
I expect the money to leave my account.

-derek
-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
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