So, my running balance in the checking account (and surely this is true for many people?) is not what the bank shows as its balance. For example, if I have a check outstanding that has not yet been cashed. Is it fine to record the balance that I know is there in the account after all obligations pending are settled? Will this conflict with FAFSA/Profile/etc. data that they get from banks? How to reconcile? Thank you!
Capture a screen shot of your accounts and use those numbers on your FAFSA / Profile.
@4kidsdad - do we submit the screen shot somewhere? Also, the screen shot wouldn’t include the outstanding check(s)…?
Keep it in case they ask for documentation later. If you can wait for the outstanding checks to clear.
Verification of account balances isn’t a routine thing. FAFSA/Profile/colleges don’t get your data from the banks. You won’t submit the screen shot (or any other substantiation) unless you are asked to.
My opinion is that any checks you have written and sent out to pay a bill should not be included in your account balance when you declare assets for FAFSA and Profile.
@“Erin’s Dad” - I’d like to wait, but I don’t think I can. My son’s aftercare requires post-dated checks for each quarter (and I asked if I could pay upfront for the semester and they said no). I assume there will also be other checks that won’t have come through. I assume I can explain all of this, and I haven’t done the FAFSA yet so I don’t know what all proof they ask for at each step…?
You are supposed to take a “snapshot” so it would be legal if you were expecting a year-end bonus on a particular date, to take a “snapshot” on the day you submit the FAFSA form.
There would be very few cases where it would matter if you had $1000 vs. $10,000 in the bank, and for those cases, a change of $9,000 would not be expected.
Are you worried about “lying” or are you worried about being tagged as “richer” than you are?
FAFSA is what you have * on the day you file*. We fill out everything and then when we are ready to file we print out (for our records, and if anyone were to ask), what is in each account and enter that amount. We do not take into consideration outstanding checks or other payments.
As you said, your checkbook balance rarely matches the bank (unless you rarely do transactions) on a given day, so don’t sweat it–just use what the bank says on the day you file.
@rhandco - thank you! I’m worried about both, I guess - mostly, I want to record the balance I know is true once all clears, but I want to be sure that counts as “truth-telling”. 
A checking account in good standing probably always looks “richer” as things haven’t cleared yet, right?
What the bank thinks is the truth. What you know, like a $500 electricity bill due tomorrow or a $2,000 bonus being deposited on Friday, is not what the truth is today.
I actually got worried like you did, then just decided to do a printout from the online bank account and use that.
And of course the numbers on the FAFSA didn’t match the numbers on the CSS Profile because they were filed on different days. But they were within a thousand or so of each other.
@rhandco - If you choose a day of the month and use what the bank thinks, then is there any reason to choose a lower balance-in-progress day, or does it not make a difference really?
I honestly do not think it makes a difference.
In our case, I believe our home equity had a much larger role than any of our bank accounts. If you have home equity of $100,000 or more, I don’t think a thousand or two in your bank account one way or the other would matter.
If you are living hand to mouth, that is different.
I know that I took a 10K pay cut in 2015 vs. 2014, and I asked my son’s college to reconsider FA based on that, and they didn’t care a hill of beans despite clear documentation and support.
@rhandco - thank you that is helpful to know…is the same true for the CSS Profile?
We refiled the CSS Profile and the award did not change, and a request was denied.
However, they did give my son more loans than we should have gotten, he got some that were for “significantly financially disadvantaged” students, which is ridiculous for a family with over 100K income.
@rhandco - I wonder if it would have been the same (“no changes”) if your income had gone up…? Do you sense it was inertia, or a change in policy, or a lack of difference in policy in the first place?
I sensed that it was “he’s already in, the change wasn’t catastrophic, so we won’t give him more aid”.
I have heard of aid being cut, like if a parent was unemployed and then got a full-time job. But not in the middle of a school year.
FAFSA is refiled each year I believe.
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-08-03/html/2015-18991.htm
@fretfulmother, will it matter what the balance is after the check? I mean, would it bring you over the APA (asset protection allowance) amount if you don’t wait until it clears? I think the assets over the APA get assessed at 5.6 %
@mommdc - we’re both 43, so yes we’re already over the APA. Thus the differential is I guess (unless it’s progressive brackets?) thus 5.6% of approximately 2K. Is that the right way to calculate it? Just found out that apparently my MIL opened a UTMA for my DS16 years ago that is now worth 6K. (!!!) Which is great, and all, but that will also be an asset, and a student one, and I almost missed it. Hopefully I find out all I need to know in time. Sigh.
Straight UTMAs are one of the worst ways to save for college. Your MIL should fund a custodial 529 account with that UTMA money, and it would then be counted on FAFSA as a parent asset.
@BelknapPoint - I know, and you know, but that ship has sailed…
Would the sensible thing be to use it all for tuition the first year in that case?? Is that even kosher?