Free check register template for Excel (with a cleared-balance check)
A check register is the running record of every check, card purchase, payment and deposit on a bank account, kept by you rather than the bank. Its balance tells you what you really have after the checks you've written but the bank hasn't cashed yet. This free Excel template adds what most registers leave out: a Cleared column and a summary that checks the cleared items against the bank statement, so the monthly reconciliation happens in the same sheet. Below: what's in the file, the columns, a worked example that agrees to the cent, how to keep it month to month, and what to do when it doesn't agree.
Short answer: download the check register template (.xlsx). Enter a starting balance you trust, then write each check, debit card purchase, ACH payment, transfer and deposit as it happens; the Balance column runs by itself. When the statement arrives, put an x in Cleared next to everything that's on it and enter the statement's ending balance: the cleared balance should equal it, and the status reads Agrees with the statement. Unmarked items are your outstanding checks and deposits in transit. The Example sheet uses the same made-up account as our sample bank statement: cleared balance 13,440.52 (the statement's ending balance), register balance 13,638.02.
Download the free check register template (.xlsx)
Three sheets: a blank Register with 250 rows, a filled-in Example month and How to use. It uses only SUM, SUMIF, ROUND, IF, AND and TEXT, so it works in Excel, Google Sheets (File, Import), LibreOffice and Numbers. No sign-up, no email, no macros. It prints in landscape on letter or A4 with the column headings repeated on every page.
1. What's in the template
- Header: the account (last 4 digits only), the opening balance and the date you start from.
- The register: Date, Check #, Payee / description, Payment, Deposit, Cleared and a running Balance, with the headings frozen so they stay in view as you scroll. Yellow cells are inputs; the Balance column is a formula and stays blank on empty rows.
- Balances box (to the right): the bank statement's ending date and balance (inputs), the cleared balance (opening balance plus every item marked cleared), the difference between the two and a status line.
- Not cleared yet: totals of deposits and of checks and payments without an x, the register balance (everything you've written) and a check line proving cleared balance + uncleared deposits − uncleared payments = register balance.
Amounts are positive numbers in either the Payment or the Deposit column, the way a paper checkbook register works, so there are no minus signs to get wrong.
2. The columns
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Date | The day you wrote the check, made the payment or made the deposit. Not the day it clears. |
| Check # | The check number, or a short reference for everything else: ACH, DEBIT, DEP, XFER, WIRE, FEE, INT. |
| Payee / description | Who you paid or who paid you, plus anything you'll want later (invoice number, what it was for). |
| Payment (−) | Money out: checks, debit card purchases, ACH payments, transfers out, bank fees. Positive number. |
| Deposit (+) | Money in: deposits, transfers in, wires, interest. Positive number. |
| Cleared | An x once the item appears on a bank statement. Any mark works; the formulas only check the cell isn't empty. |
| Balance | Calculated: opening balance + all deposits − all payments up to that row. |
3. Worked example
The Example sheet is September 2026 for the fictional business checking account ending 0427 at the made-up Example Community Bank, the same account as our sample bank statement PDF. The register opens on September 1 at 12,418.36, the statement's beginning balance, and has 34 entries.
- 31 entries appear on the statement and are marked cleared: payroll, Stripe payouts, checks 2041, 2042 and 2043, card purchases, the transfer to savings, and the 15.00 service fee and 3.21 interest that the business only learned about from the statement and added to the register. Deposits 29,597.43, payments 28,575.27.
- 3 entries don't appear yet and have no x: check 2044 to Hill Country Printing for 640.00 (September 29), check 2045 to Austin Courier Co. for 312.50 (September 30) and a 1,150.00 mobile deposit made on September 30.
| Opening balance, September 1 | 12,418.36 |
| Add: cleared deposits | 29,597.43 |
| Less: cleared payments | (28,575.27) |
| Cleared balance (equals the statement's ending balance) | 13,440.52 |
| Add: deposit not cleared yet | 1,150.00 |
| Less: checks not cleared yet (640.00 + 312.50) | (952.50) |
| Register balance | 13,638.02 |
The statement's ending balance is 13,440.52, so the difference is 0.00 and the status reads Agrees with the statement. The register balance, 13,638.02, is the number to spend against: the bank's balance is higher than what the business can use until the two checks are cashed, and lower until the deposit posts. In October those three items should clear, and the business ticks them off first.
4. How to keep it, step by step
- Start from a balance you trust. Use the ending balance on your last bank statement, once nothing written before it is still outstanding, and its date. If there are outstanding checks from before, list them as the first rows without an x.
- Write each item when it happens, not when it clears: checks as you write them, card purchases from receipts, automatic payments on their scheduled date, deposits when you make them.
- Watch the Balance column before you write the next check. It already allows for checks the bank hasn't cashed yet.
- When the statement arrives, mark what cleared. Go down the statement and put an x next to each matching register entry. Match on check number first, then amount, then date.
- Add what only the statement knows: service fees, interest, returned (NSF) deposits, automatic drafts you forgot. Enter them and mark them cleared.
- Enter the statement's ending date and balance in the Balances box. At 0.00 you're done for the month. If not, see when the cleared balance doesn't agree.
- Keep going in the same sheet. The cleared balance builds up month after month, so it always compares with the latest statement. When 250 rows run out, start a new copy from the last statement's balance.
Chase old outstanding items. A check that hasn't cleared after two or three months may have been lost. Ask the payee before writing a replacement, and consider a stop payment on the original.
5. When the cleared balance doesn't agree
The difference shows how far the cleared items in your register are from the bank's figure. Use its size:
- It equals one item: something on the statement is missing from the register (often a fee or an automatic payment), or an item is marked cleared that isn't on this statement.
- It's twice an item: that item is in the wrong column, a payment entered as a deposit or the other way round.
- It divides by 9: look for transposed digits, such as 145.80 written as 154.80.
- It's an amount you don't recognise: check the opening balance. If the register didn't start from an agreed statement balance, every month will be off by the same amount.
Also make sure the statement itself adds up: beginning balance + deposits − withdrawals = ending balance. Our guide on how to find a reconciliation discrepancy walks through the causes in order.
6. Check register vs bank reconciliation
A register is the day-to-day record; a reconciliation is the monthly proof. For a small account this template does both: the cleared balance agreeing with the statement is the reconciliation. If you keep your books in QuickBooks or Xero, the bank account register there already does the register's job, and its reconcile screen does the ticking. Use the separate bank reconciliation template when you need a formal workpaper with deposits in transit, outstanding checks, bank errors and book adjustments listed side by side for a reviewer. For a card account, use the credit card reconciliation template, since a card balance is money owed.
7. Statement only as a PDF?
Marking cleared items is quicker when the statement is rows you can sort by check number or amount, not a PDF.
Turn the bank statement PDF into rows first
Utilly's converter reads a bank statement PDF, downloaded or scanned, into Excel, CSV, QuickBooks or Xero files and checks the rows against the statement's beginning and ending balance. The preview is free with no sign-up. Try it on the sample bank statement first: it's the same account as the Example sheet, and every download of the sample is free because the data is fictional.
No checks on the account, or keeping a cash box? The cash book template is the same idea with categories and category totals instead of a Cleared column, and the petty cash log template handles an office cash box topped up by check.
Want the statement itself as a spreadsheet? The sample bank statement Excel file lays out the same month with a running balance, and all the sample files are in one place.
Method: the register layout is the standard checkbook register (date, number, payee, payment, deposit, cleared, balance) with a cleared-balance check added. The example business, payees and amounts are fictional. Template built and checked November 1, 2026: the Example sheet recalculates in LibreOffice to a cleared balance of 13,440.52, a 0.00 difference and a register balance of 13,638.02.
FAQ
What is a check register?
Your own running record of a bank account: every check, debit card purchase, automatic payment, transfer and deposit, with the balance after each one. Unlike the bank's balance, it includes checks you've written that haven't been cashed yet, so it shows what you can actually spend.
Is the check register template free?
Yes. Download the .xlsx with no sign-up or email address. It has a blank 250-row register, a filled-in example month and instructions, and it works in Excel, Google Sheets (File, Import), LibreOffice and Numbers.
What does the Cleared column do?
Put an x next to each item once it appears on a bank statement. The template adds up the opening balance and every cleared item into a cleared balance, which should equal the statement's ending balance. Items without an x are your outstanding checks and deposits in transit.
Why doesn't my register balance match the bank?
Usually because of timing: checks you've written that haven't been cashed and deposits that haven't posted. Compare the cleared balance with the bank instead. If that's off too, look for a fee or automatic payment missing from the register, an amount that differs, or an item in the wrong column.
Can I use it in Google Sheets?
Yes. In Google Sheets choose File, Import, Upload and pick the .xlsx, or open it from Google Drive. The formulas are plain SUM, SUMIF, ROUND, IF, AND and TEXT, so the running balance and the cleared-balance check work the same.
Do I still need a check register if I use QuickBooks or Xero?
Not usually. The bank account register in QuickBooks, or the account transactions in Xero, does the same job, and their reconcile screens do the ticking. A spreadsheet register is useful for accounts kept outside the software, a personal or side account, or a client who writes checks before the bookkeeper sees them.
Related guides
- Free bank reconciliation template for Excel (with a worked example)
- Free cash book template for Excel (with categories and a balance check)
- Free sample bank statement in Excel (with a blank template)
- How to find a bank reconciliation discrepancy: 7 causes and a 15-minute method
- Free credit card reconciliation template for Excel (with a worked example)
- Free sample bank statement PDF (fictional, with known totals)
Related tools
- Bank reconciliation checker: compare a bank statement to your books and list missing, duplicate and mismatched transactions.
- Receipt to CSV: turn PDF or photo receipts and invoices into CSV, Excel, or QuickBooks and Xero bill imports.
