what is an account statement 
an account statement is a periodic summary of account activity with a beginning date and an ending date the most commonly known are checking account statements usually provided monthly and brokerage account statements which are provided monthly or quarterly monthly credit card bills are also considered account statements understanding account statementsaccount statements refer to almost any official summary of an account wherever the account is held insurance companies may provide account statements summarizing paid in cash values for example statements can be generated for almost any type of accounts that represent ongoing transactions where funds are repeatedly exchanged this can include online payment accounts such as paypal credit card accounts brokerage accounts and savings accounts utility companies as well as telephone and subscription television service providers usually generate account statements for their customers detailing their usage and any overages during the payment cycle such statements typically list debits paid incoming funds or credits received by the account holder and fees associated with maintaining the account for example certain types of savings accounts might incur regular maintenance fees unless a certain minimum balance of funds is maintained in the account cable television subscriptions may include state taxes and other surcharges that are included in providing regular service account statements don t necessarily need to be financial consider an account statement that tracks a company s environmental impact from one period to the next elements of account statementsthough account statements may vary based on the issuer and underlying service you may come across the same elements across statements these elements may include but aren t limited to 