How to read your home loan statement: A line-by-line guide

Most people glance at their home loan statement, check the balance hasn’t done anything alarming, and move on. But if you want to confirm your bank is charging you correctly, especially if you have an offset account, it helps to know what each line actually means.

Opening and closing balance

These show your loan balance at the start and end of the statement period. The gap between them should roughly equal your repayments minus the interest charged, plus or minus any extra payments or redraws you made during the period.

Interest charged

This is the actual dollar amount of interest applied during the period. It’s the figure worth checking against your own estimate, since it’s the one most affected if your offset account isn’t linked correctly. Use the offset interest calculator with your loan balance, offset balance, and interest rate to see roughly what this figure should be, then compare it to what’s shown.

Offset account balance

If you have an offset account, most statements show its balance alongside the loan details, sometimes as an average balance for the period rather than a single snapshot. This is the figure your bank should be subtracting from your loan balance before calculating interest. If this line is missing, showing as zero, or showing a balance that doesn’t match what you actually held in the account, that’s worth raising with your bank straight away.

Interest rate

Your current interest rate should be listed, usually as an annual percentage. If you’re on a variable rate, check this periodically, since it can change without a lot of fanfare beyond a notification email you might have missed.

Repayment amount

This is what you actually paid during the period, whether monthly, fortnightly, or weekly. With an offset account working correctly, more of each repayment goes toward reducing your principal, since less of it is being absorbed by interest.

Fees

Any account-keeping, package, or offset fees charged during the period should be itemised separately from interest. If you’re not sure whether a fee applies to your loan or your offset account specifically, it’s worth asking your bank to clarify, since these are sometimes bundled together in a way that’s easy to misread.

Putting it together

The two lines worth cross-checking every so often are the offset balance and the interest charged. If your offset balance looks right but the interest charged seems too high for the numbers, that’s the clearest sign something may not be linked or calculated correctly, and it’s worth working through the FAQ on what to do next.

Want to check this month’s numbers? Use the offset interest calculator →