Guides and notes

Practical notes on statements, formats and how we test.

· 9 min read

Xero statement import: dates and duplicates

Fix Xero bank statement import errors: day and month swapped, debit and credit columns, duplicate or missing statement lines, and file limits.

Twelve statement pages fanned in an arc, converging into one clean grid of table cells

· 6 min read

Year-end bookkeeping from bank statements

Rebuilding a year of books from statements for tax time: gather, convert, reconcile, assemble, categorize, review. Where the time goes and what to check.

A statement whose direct route is blocked by a bar, taking a second route through a small node and arriving as a table

· 4 min read

Xero PDF import: UK and Australia

Xero's direct PDF import covers the US and Canada only. What the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa do instead, step by step.

A year drawn as twelve segments where only the last three carry any writing, the nine empty ones marked with a bracket

· 5 min read

Import older transactions into QuickBooks

The QuickBooks Online bank feed reaches back about 90 days. How to import older transactions from statement PDFs, and why reconnecting does not help.

Four identical file cards side by side with different rulings inside, one picked out in petrol

· 7 min read

QBO vs OFX vs QFX vs QIF: which one to use

What each bank-import format is, which software reads it (QuickBooks, Xero, Quicken, Sage, Wave, GnuCash), the INTU.BID quirk, and how to import.

A sheet of paper feeding into an application window where the top row has just arrived

· 6 min read

Upload bank statements to QuickBooks Online

How to upload bank statements to QuickBooks Online: QBO or CSV, the Upload from file path, and fixes for rejected files, bad dates, signs and duplicates.

A payment card beside a statement page whose last column is drawn as an empty dotted outline

· 5 min read

Credit card statements: signs and totals

Credit card statement sign conventions, why most have no running balance, how to verify the totals instead, and importing into QuickBooks or Xero.

A flatbed scanner with a statement on the glass and a clean table of cells coming out of it

· 5 min read

Scanned bank statements: what works

How scans and phone photos are read, what makes a page readable (resolution, skew, light), what to check afterwards, and why scans get a balance check.

A paper bank statement beside a clean spreadsheet grid with one column picked out in petrol

· 6 min read

How to convert bank statement PDF to Excel

How to convert a bank statement PDF to Excel four ways: retyping, Excel's PDF import, a chatbot and a converter, what each costs, and how to check it.

Two columns of paired bars with one pair that does not match, marked out in petrol

· 6 min read

What a reconciliation check really catches

The running-balance identity, four errors it catches (dropped row, duplicate, wrong sign, wrong digit), what it misses, and how to read a flagged row.

A statement page with a shield drawn over it and a short checklist beside it, two items ticked

· 6 min read

Privacy checklist for statement converters

Questions to ask before uploading client statements to a converter: retention, sub-processors, model training, encryption, logs, account deletion, DPAs.