saldo

Saldo is a term used in finance and accounting to denote the remaining amount in an account after all credits and debits have been recorded. In many languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, and Italian, saldo refers to the balance of a bank account, a credit card, or a ledger account. The balance can be positive, indicating funds available, or negative, indicating an overdraft or debt.

In banking, common variants include the current balance (saldo actual or saldo corrente) and the available balance (saldo disponível), which excludes pending transactions or holds. The ledger or book balance records all postings and may differ from the available balance until pending items are cleared.

Calculation: opening balance plus total credits minus total debits equals the closing balance for a period. In daily banking, deposits increase saldo, while withdrawals and card payments decrease it. Overdrafts may produce a negative saldo, often with fees or interest.

Reconciliation: saldo is used in statements and reports to verify funds, track cash flow, and prepare financial information. In accounting, a ledger account’s saldo is the net result after postings; in financial statements, it reflects the balance of a chart of accounts.

Notes: while saldo commonly means balance, some languages have other uses for related terms—for example, in Italian, saldi can refer to sales or discounts in retail. See also account balance, bank statement.