The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct account balance at the end of the month is $69.04.
To determine the final account balance, we must start with the initial amount and then systematically account for all the transactions that occurred throughout the month. The problem provides a starting balance and a list of five transactions, which are a mix of deposits (money added) and withdrawals (money removed).
The starting balance in Jaya’s account was $94.42.
The transactions listed are:
31.87,–31.87,–34.19, –$58.47,
48.57,and–48.57,and–13.16. The positive numbers represent deposits, and the negative numbers represent withdrawals.
One effective way to solve this is to first group and sum all the deposits and all the withdrawals separately.
First, let’s calculate the total amount of money deposited into the account. The deposits are the positive values in the list:
Total Deposits = $31.87 + $48.57 = $80.44
Next, we calculate the total amount of money withdrawn from the account. The withdrawals are the negative values. We can add their absolute values to find the total amount removed:
Total Withdrawals = $34.19 + $58.47 + $13.16 = $105.82
Now, we can find the net change in the account by subtracting the total withdrawals from the total deposits:
Net Change = $80.44 (deposits) –
105.82(withdrawals)=–105.82(withdrawals)=–25.38
This result means that over the course of the month, the account balance decreased by $25.38.
Finally, to find the account balance at the end of the month, we apply this net change to the starting balance:
Ending Balance = Starting Balance + Net Change
Ending Balance =
94.42+(–94.42+(–25.38)
Ending Balance = $94.42 – $25.38 = $69.04
Alternatively, one could start with the initial balance and add or subtract each transaction sequentially, which would yield the same final result. By properly processing all financial activities, we conclude that the account balance at the end of the month is $69.04.
