Brokerage account statements

A brokerage account statement is the official record a broker-dealer sends its customer summarizing the account: the securities and cash held, their current values, and all activity since the last statement — trades, deposits, withdrawals, dividends, and interest.

The baseline rule is that firms must send account statements at least quarterly, even if nothing happened in the account. In practice, most firms send statements monthly whenever there is activity in the account, and certain account types carry stricter requirements — for example, accounts holding penny stocks must receive monthly statements.

Statements matter because they are the customer's primary tool for supervising their own account. Reviewing each statement lets an investor confirm that trades were authorized, fees are correct, and holdings match expectations. Discrepancies should be reported to the firm promptly and in writing — an unreported error can be harder to unwind later. Statements also show whether securities are held in street name, and they complement trade confirmations, which are sent at or before settlement of each individual transaction.

The SIE exam tests account statement rules as part of its brokerage account fundamentals material. Know the quarterly minimum, the monthly-with-activity convention, and the difference between an account statement (periodic summary) and a trade confirmation (per-transaction record).