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My Statement / The running balance
Two hundred and fifty to three hundred and twelve
The running balance, and the balance the account shows
The running balance is the column a statement is built on, and it is not the number at the top of the screen. This page follows one month line by line, because the shape of the middle of a month - not its end - is what tells a reader whether a low balance was a loss or simply a stake not yet returned.
Desk spec
- opening
- 250.00
- low point
- 70.00
- shown close
- 312.00
- settled close
- 292.00
the lineOne transaction, with a date, a type, an amount and a running balance. The sample month holds 240 of them, and every one belongs to a category.
the running balanceThe balance after each line, in the statement's own order. It is not the balance you can withdraw, because a bonus credit sits inside it: 312.00 shown against 292.00 settled.
the pending lineA line that has been recorded but not settled. Of 500 lines in the sample, 43 were pending and 21 were reversed, against 436 settled.
Direct answerThe running balance is the balance after each line, in the order the statement lists them. On the sample month it opened at 250.00, dipped to 70.00 after the month of stakes, recovered to 442.00 as returns landed, and closed at 312.00 - of which 292.00 is cash. The number at the top of the screen is the shown balance, not the running one.
One month, line by line
The shape of the running balance is the honest picture of a month, because it shows the low point as well as the end. A reader who looks only at the closing balance never sees the dip, and the dip is what a stake-heavy month looks like before the returns arrive.
Sample G - the running balance through one month
| Line | Amount | Running balance |
|---|
| opening balance | - | 250.00 |
| deposits | +300.00 | 550.00 |
| stakes | -480.00 | 70.00 |
| returns | +372.00 | 442.00 |
| bonus credits | +20.00 | 462.00 |
| withdrawals | -150.00 | 312.00 |
| six movements | +62.00 net | 250.00 to 312.00 shown |
sample G - the running balance, step by step
opening = 250.00
+ deposits 300.00 = 550.00
- stakes 480.00 = 70.00 the low point of the month
+ returns 372.00 = 442.00
+ bonus 20.00 = 462.00
- withdrawals 150.00 = 312.00 the shown close
and the settled close = 312.00 - 20.00 = 292.00
so the account went up by 62.00 across the month (250.00 to 312.00 shown),
but it was 70.00 at its lowest, and the closing figure a reader sees
is 20.00 above the cash they can withdraw.
The running balance against the shown balance
The two numbers answer different questions, and confusing them is the origin of most of the disagreements on the next pages. The running balance answers "what happened"; the shown balance answers "what is there now" - and the second includes lines the first has not finished with.
samples G and D - two balances, two questions
the running balance after the last line = 312.00
the settled balance = 292.00
the difference = 20.00, one bonus line
and across 500 lines in sample D:
settled = 436 -> 87.2%
pending (already in the balance) = 43 -> 8.6%
reversed = 21 -> 4.2%
so the shown balance contains 43 lines that are not finished,
which is why it can move before the money does:
43 / 500 = 8.6% of the statement is already counted and not yet final.
Read the running balance, not only the closing one
- Follow the column to its lowest point, not just to its last line.
- Separate the shown balance from the settled balance, and note the gap.
- Check whether a low mid-month balance recovered or produced no returns.
- Treat a bonus credit as inside the shown balance and outside the cash.
- Check the state of the last few lines, since they are the ones still moving.
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