PDF bank statement to CSV converter

When you need CSV rather than Excel

CSV is plain text: one line per transaction, values separated by commas. It has no formatting and no formulas, which is exactly why it’s the format importers ask for. Choose CSV when the next step is another program — Wave, FreshBooks, Sage, a budgeting app, a tax tool or a Google Sheet — and Excel when you plan to work in the data yourself.

Convert a PDF statement to CSV

1. Download the statement as a PDF from online banking. Statements you can select text in convert exactly.
2. Drop the PDF on the converter. It finds the transaction table on every page and shows it for review; fix or delete any line in place.
3. Clean CSV (all columns) is already selected in step 3. Pick the date format the importing app expects, then download.

The CSV layout

The file starts with a heading row: Date,Description,Debit,Credit,Amount,Balance,Reference,Check No.. Debit and Credit hold money out and in as positive numbers; Amount holds the same figure signed, negative for money out; Balance carries the statement’s running balance when it prints one. Most importers let you map either the single Amount column or the Debit and Credit pair. Lines end with CRLF, which every spreadsheet and importer reads.

If the app wants a specific layout, choose it instead: QuickBooks Online’s 3- or 4-column CSV and Xero’s statement CSV are in the same list.

Getting a clean CSV from a PDF

• Check the totals first. The summary shows money in and money out; compare them with the totals on the statement before downloading.
• Wrapped descriptions are joined back onto their transaction, so each row stays one transaction.
• Page headers, footers and totals printed between the transactions are skipped.
• Date order. If every date could be read either way, confirm month-first or day-first in step 2.
• Several months. Convert each statement, then join the CSVs with Combine CSV and Excel files — it removes rows repeated where statements overlap.

CSV encoding and opening the file

The CSV is plain UTF-8 text. Double-clicking it opens it in Excel, which is fine for checking — but don’t save it back from Excel before importing elsewhere, because Excel may reformat dates and long numbers. Import the downloaded file as it is.

Which date format to choose

Most importers state the date format they expect. Pick MM/DD/YYYY for US apps, DD/MM/YYYY for UK, Australian and New Zealand apps, and YYYY-MM-DD when an app accepts ISO dates — it can’t be misread in any country. If an app imports some dates into the wrong month and rejects others, the date format is almost always the cause: convert again with the other order.

Frequently asked questions