Technology from banks has made a lot of bookkeeping tasks easier, however people who handle financial records realize that it’s not perfect. Customers still send statements in PDF format, feeds from banks might not be working and historical transactions aren’t accessible. This means that someone needs to transform a PDF document intended to be read into a format that accounting software actually uses.
A converter for bank statements can eliminate much of the repetitive work that is involved in this process. Docubrew converts bank statement data into spreadsheet-ready information instead of manually entering description, date withdrawals, and deposits row by line.
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When a PDF becomes the missing piece
Imagine a bookkeeper who is preparing the year-end reconciliation for an incoming customer. The accounting system has recently completed transactions but some older months are not present. Luckily, the client was able to download the original PDF statement.
In the past, rewriting those months could involve long hours of copying numbers into the spreadsheet. A bank statement PDF to Excel workflow is a much more practical alternative. Docubrew accepts electronic PDFs as well the paper copies and extracts transaction data for spreadsheet use.
Professionals who frequently require the transfer of a bank statement to Excel by hand, reducing the manual transcription can also eliminate the possibility of mistakes in typing.
Make sure you keep the pages that matter
Bank statements don’t consist entirely of transactions. A 12-page report could contain a cover sheet, an account summary, disclosures, or notices and pages of actual transactions.
Docubrew lets users preview the document, and then select the appropriate pages prior to conversion. This makes it simple to convert bank statements to Excel without having to add unrelated content.
Once the file is processed the file can then be opened with Excel or integrated into accounting platforms such as QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks and more.
CSV allows for a variety of accounting workflow
CSV can still be useful and is widely used by databases and spreadsheets. Accounting applications also work with CSV. If you need a bank statement to CSV, Docubrew produces structured output based on the transaction table contained in the statement.
The same workflow can be used to transform bank statements into CSV to serve a variety of reasons, such as reconstructing historical books, taking on a project to clean up the client database that is not being used, analyzing missing transactions, or even preparing the information to be used in reconciliation.
The batch processing process is particularly valuable for accounting firms who are working with multiple statements or clients at once.
Financial Documents should be analyzed for privacy restrictions
Processing financial records is not solely about convenience. Bookkeepers and accountants can be worried about the location they use to process financial records.
Docubrew offers two options. Windows desktop software is used to process files stored on the computer of the user. The statements aren’t uploaded to be converted. People who prefer working with a browser choose the encrypted cloud version, where uploaded files are completely deleted after 24 hours.
This feature is what differentiates Excel software, which depends entirely on remote processing from the bank statement platform.
Turning Document Archives Back Into Working Data
The PDF statement is an excellent document, however it’s a pain should you need to sort, reconcile filters, sort, or import transactions from another. Scanned files add a new complication since the transaction details might only exist in the form of an image.
Docubrew is a solution that combines statements parsing as well as OCR for scanned documents. It offers accountants, bookkeepers, and businesspeople a simple way to transform archival financial documentation into actionable transactions data.
The result is an improvement in a process that was once tedious: the bank statement remains as the original financial record however, its transaction table is now data you can use.