Preparing Bank Transaction Data for Excel, QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks

The advancements in banking technology have greatly automated bookkeeping. However anyone who handles financial records knows that the automated system doesn’t always work. When the bank feeds aren’t working properly, the historical transactions might be unavailable and clients may still send documents in the format of PDF. Then, someone has to transform a PDF document intended to be read by a reader into something accounting software will actually use.

Image credit: docubrew.com

A converter for your bank statement can eliminate much of the repetitive work required in this process. Docubrew converts bank statement data into spreadsheet-ready data, instead of manually entering the date, description withdrawals, and deposits row-by-line.

When a PDF becomes the missing element

Imagine that a bookkeeper is creating an annual reconciliation to the client. The accounting platform shows the most recent transactions, however some of the older years are missing. Luckily, the client has downloaded the original PDF of the statement.

In the past, re-creating those months would require hours of copying and pasting numbers into spreadsheets. The PDF bank statement to Excel workflow is a practical alternative. Docubrew can extract transaction information from digital PDFs and scanned bank statements on paper.

The reduced amount of manual transcription will also lower the chance of typing errors, which is an enormous advantage for those who need to transfer bank accounts regularly into Excel.

Be sure to keep the pages that matter

Statements of bank accounts aren’t made up entirely of transactions. A 12-page report could contain an introduction page, a account summary and disclosures or notices along with a number of pages of actual transactions in the bank.

Docubrew allows users to view the document, and then select the appropriate pages prior to conversion. It makes it much easier to convert bank statements to Excel without adding unrelated statements content into the working dataset.

Once the file is processed the file can then be opened using Excel or used in accounting platforms such QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, etc.

CSV Provides a Flexible Accounting Workflow

CSV remains useful because it is supported by databases, spreadsheets, and accounting applications. Docubrew can convert bank statements to CSV using its transaction table.

The same workflow is used to convert bank statements to CSV for a variety of reasons, including rewriting historical books, taking on an undertaking to cleanse unutilized client data, looking into missing transactions or preparing the data to be used in reconciliation.

The batch processing process is particularly advantageous for accounting firms working through multiple statements or clients at a time.

Financial Documents deserve thought-out privacy safeguards

Processing financial records is not only about convenience. Bank statements may contain sensitive client information therefore bookkeepers and accountants may also care about the location where processing occurs.

Docubrew has two methods. Its Windows desktop application runs files locally on the user’s PC and therefore the data isn’t transferred to the cloud for conversion. For those who prefer a browser-based workflow can choose the encrypted cloud version that allows for uploading files to be immediately deleted after 24 hours.

That choice distinguishes the platform from bank statement to Excel software that depends exclusively on remote processing.

Turning Document Archives Back Into Working Data

PDF statements are excellent documents, but they’re not ideal when transactions must be reconciled, sorted, removed, or imported into another. Scanned documents are problematic since transaction data may only exist as a picture.

Docubrew is a blend of statements parsing as well as OCR for documents that have been scanned. It gives accountants, bookkeepers, and businesspeople simple way to transform the financial documents of archives into useful transaction data.

The result is a straightforward improvement to an otherwise tedious process: use the bank statement as a primary financial record and then turn its transaction table into information you are able to use.