Question

Jerry's beginning balance in his checkbook was $457.56. He made deposits of $20, $80, and $165 and wrote checks for $216.58. His bank charge was $3.50. What was his ending balance for the month? a. $552.10 b. $505.98 c. $722.56 d. $502.48

Answer 1

If Jimmy wants to keep track of his checkbook balance he should pay attention to three things: 
First, when Jimmy make deposits, he should add  the amount of the deposits from the amount he has in the bank.
Second, when Jimmy write checks, he should deduct the amount of the checks from the amount he has in the bank.
And third, he should also deduct any bank charges from the amount he has in the bank.

From the question we know that Jimmy made deposits of $20, $80, and $165, so he should add those amounts to the money he has in the bank:
$Balance=457.56+20+80+165$
$Balance=722.56$
We also know that he wrote checks for $216.58, so he should subtract the amount from the balance:
$Balance=722.56-216.58$
$Balance=505.98$
Last but not least, the bank charged Jimmy $3.50, so we should subtract that amount from the balance too:
$Balance=505.98-3.50$
$Balance=502.48$

Notice that you can also add/subtract all the deposits, checks, and bank charges all at once:
$Balance=457.56+20+80+165-216.58-3.50$
$Balance=502.48$

Either way we can conclude that his ending balance for the month was $502.48; therefore, d is the correct answer.