# Convert French bank statements to Excel

Tallyscope reads French column headers, dates and numbers in your browser and checks every row against the running balance before you export to Excel or CSV.

Canonical page: https://tallyscope.app/bank-statement-to-excel-french | Last updated: 2026-11-07

What Tallyscope reads in French (Français) statements. The site is in English; no bank names are used or implied.

## French bank statements to Excel

French statements usually separate thousands with a space and the cents with a comma, and they name balances with the word solde. The file is read in your browser tab and every row is checked against the printed running balance. The French-specific parts follow.

## French column headers the reader recognises

| Column | French words |
| --- | --- |
| Value date | Date valeur |
| Description | Libellé |
| Debit (money out) | Débit, Retrait |
| Credit (money in) | Crédit, Dépôt |
| Amount | Montant |
| Balance | Solde |

The statement-level labels **Solde initial** and **Solde final** are recognised as the opening and closing balance. Matching ignores case, accents and punctuation, and the lists hold more words than shown. An unrecognised header can be assigned by hand in the column mapper.

## A French sample, row by row

The figures below are synthetic and use French conventions for headers, dates and numbers. The opening label Solde initial is the statement's starting balance. The same table, saved as a CSV, is read by the real parser in our automated tests, so what follows is what the reader actually does with it.

| Date | Libellé | Débit | Crédit | Solde |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Solde initial | 1 041,70 |  |  |  |
| 2 janvier 2026 | Salaire |  | 2 537,00 | 3 578,70 |
| 15 janvier 2026 | Loyer | 758,00 |  | 2 820,70 |
| 20 janvier 2026 | Courses | 67,31 |  | 2 753,39 |
| 28 janvier 2026 | Remboursement |  | 13,37 | 2 766,76 |

- 2 janvier 2026 is read as 2 January 2026. 2 537,00 in the Crédit column becomes **+2,537.00**, and the printed balance 3 578,70 is 3,578.70, which equals 1,041.70 plus 2,537.00.
- 15 janvier 2026 is read as 15 January 2026. 758,00 in the Débit column becomes **-758.00**, and the printed balance 2 820,70 is 2,820.70.
- 20 janvier 2026 is read as 20 January 2026. 67,31 in the Débit column becomes **-67.31**, and the printed balance 2 753,39 is 2,753.39.
- 28 janvier 2026 is read as 28 January 2026. 13,37 in the Crédit column becomes **+13.37**, and the printed balance 2 766,76 is 2,766.76.

Opening 1,041.70, plus the four movements (net +1,725.06), gives 2,766.76, the last printed balance 2 766,76. Every row agrees with the running balance, so this statement is shown as Verified.

## Money out and money in in French statements

This sample uses two money columns, a layout found in many French-language statements: Débit holds money out and Crédit holds money in, and each amount is printed without a sign because the column carries the direction. The reader takes the direction from the column and then checks it against the balance; if a column were swapped, the balance would not follow and the statement would not be marked Verified.

## French OCR at a glance

| Model code | `fra` |
| --- | --- |
| Writing system | Latin letters |
| Bundled English model | Reads digits and Latin letters; the fra model improves accented or special letters |
| Text PDF, spreadsheet, bank file | No OCR and no model download |

## Dates in French statements

Month names with accents or without are matched after accents are folded, so 15 janvier 2026 is read as 15 January 2026. Numeric forms such as 15/01/2026 are read day first.

Examples that are read correctly: `15 janvier 2026`, `15/01/2026`, `15.01.26`.

## Numbers and signs

A space as thousands separator (1 234,56) is read as 1,234.56. The reader only treats a space as a thousands separator when every group after the first has three digits, so a stray space inside a description does not corrupt an amount. A trailing CR or DR marker is recognised as well.

Examples that are read correctly: `1 234,56`, `1.234,56`, `1 234,56 CR`. The running balance is the final judge of every sign.

## Scanned French statements and the OCR model

Accented Latin letters are within reach of the bundled English model for digits and most words. With the OCR language set to English only, nothing is downloaded; in automatic mode (the default) a poor read can trigger up to three trial model downloads from the jsDelivr CDN (cdn.jsdelivr.net), plus any language remembered from this session or detected earlier, and no statement content is ever sent. If your browser's language is French, its model (fra) is the first one tried. Choosing French by hand in the OCR language setting turns auto-detect off, and scans are then read with that model.

The file stays in your tab ([every network use is listed here](https://tallyscope.app/convert-bank-statement-without-uploading)).

## What is specific to French

The header Date valeur is kept as the value date, separate from the booking date, so the two do not collapse into one column. The word Libellé is read as the description.

Because Débit and Crédit are spelled almost like their English counterparts, a French header row is matched with the same lists as an English one, and the French-only words (Retrait, Dépôt) are added on top.

## Convert a French statement

Add the file to [Tallyscope](https://tallyscope.app/) (10 files at once are free), read each statement's status, fix flagged rows on the Review tab, then export: CSV is free for the first 25 rows; unlimited CSV and Excel, PDF, JSON, OFX, QuickBooks CSV, Xero CSV and a reconciliation report (PDF, plus an Excel sheet) come with the Day pass or Pro ([pricing](https://tallyscope.app/pricing)). Several French and non-French files can be [merged](https://tallyscope.app/merge-bank-statements) into one table.

No accuracy percentage is claimed: layouts vary, and the arithmetic check says whether a given statement reconciled ([how verification works](https://tallyscope.app/how-verification-works)).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Tallyscope read French bank statements?

It recognises French column headers, balance labels, dates and number formats, and checks the rows against the running balance. The website itself is only in English.

### Do I need to download an OCR model for French?

Not necessarily. The bundled English model reads digits and Latin letters first. If a scan reads poorly, auto-detect (the default) may download a language model such as French (fra) from the jsDelivr CDN (cdn.jsdelivr.net), or you can pick it by hand. Only a model file is requested; no statement content is sent.

### Are my French statements uploaded?

No. Files are read in your browser tab. The only OCR download is a language model file from the jsDelivr CDN, requested only when a scan needs a non-English model; no statement content is sent with it.

## Related guides

- [Bank statement OCR](https://tallyscope.app/bank-statement-ocr): In-browser OCR, repairs only when arithmetic proves them
- [Scanned statement to Excel](https://tallyscope.app/scanned-bank-statement-to-excel): Photos and scanned PDFs read by in-browser OCR
- [Portuguese bank statements to Excel](https://tallyscope.app/bank-statement-to-excel-portuguese): Portuguese headers, dates and numbers
- [Italian bank statements to Excel](https://tallyscope.app/bank-statement-to-excel-italian): Italian headers, dates and numbers
- [Multi-currency statements](https://tallyscope.app/multi-currency-bank-statements): Many currencies, one reporting currency, live rates