Bank technology has made a lot of bookkeeping tasks easier, however those who deal with financial records realize that it’s not ideal. Customers still send PDF statements, bank feeds aren’t working and historical transactions aren’t available. If this happens, someone must convert a document designed for reading into data that accounting software actually use.
Image credit: docubrew.com
The use of a bank statement converter can cut down on the time-consuming work. Docubrew transforms bank statement data into spreadsheet-ready data instead of manually entering description, date of withdrawals and deposits row-by-line.
When a pdf becomes the missing piece
Imagine a bookkeeper is preparing the year-end reconcile for the first client. The accounting software has the most recent transactions, but some of the older months are not present. Fortunately, the client downloaded the original PDF of the statement.
Traditionally, re-building in those months may require long hours of copying numbers into the spreadsheet. A PDF bank statements to Excel workflow provides a more suitable alternative. Docubrew takes transaction data from scanned paper statements or digital PDFs.
For professionals who regularly need to move a bank statement to Excel, reducing manual transcription also removes an unnecessary opportunity for typing errors.
Be sure to keep the pages that Actually Matter
Statements of bank accounts aren’t made up entirely of transactions. A 12-page report could include a brief description of the account including disclosures, notices and statements along with several pages describing the actual activities of banking.
Docubrew allows users to preview the document and select the appropriate pages prior to conversion. This makes it simple to convert bank statements to Excel, without having to include unrelated content.
Once processed, the resulting file can be opened in Excel or made ready for use with accounting platforms, such as QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks.
CSV Provides Flexible Accounting Workflow
CSV remains useful because it’s supported by spreadsheets and databases. Accounting applications can also use CSV. Docubrew can transform your bank statement into CSV by using the transaction tables included within the report.
The same workflow can help firms convert bank statements to CSV when constructing books from the past, handling a new-client cleanup project, searching for missing transactions or preparing details to reconcile.
Accounting firms that must manage clients with multiple statements may benefit from batch processing.
Financial documents deserve thoughtful security measures
Convenience isn’t the only consideration when it comes to processing financial records. Bookkeeping and accounting professionals can be concerned regarding the location of processing because bank statements contain confidential client information.
Docubrew uses two different methods. Windows desktop application converts files locally, and on the user’s PC. For those who prefer workflows based on browsers, they are able to select the encrypted cloud option, where the uploaded files will be deleted automatically after 24 hours.
This choice differentiates the platform from the bank statement Excel software, which is based solely on remote processing.
Turning Document Archives Back Into Working Data
Although PDF statements make excellent documents, they’re not ideal to utilize when transactions have to be sorted or reconciled. They can’t also be moved, changed, or filtered and so on. Scanned files create an additional complication, as the details of transactions are usually only available as images.
Docubrew is an effective tool that blends OCR and statement parsing in order to convert document scans into usable financial information. This provides accountants, bookkeepers, and business owners the opportunity to turn archival financial paperwork into usable transactional data.
The result is a change of a process which was previously cumbersome The bank statement is still used as the financial record it was originally however, its transaction table is now data you can work with.