Convert bank statement PDFs to CSV

One row per transaction

CSV is the most portable way to move statement data: every spreadsheet, database and budgeting tool can import it. The hard part is getting a statement PDF into that shape. Tallyscope reads the page layout, finds the transaction table, and writes one row per transaction with fixed columns: Date, Statement, Account, Description, Category, Currency, Debit, Credit, Amount, Balance, the amount in your chosen reporting currency, Counted in totals and Flags.

Dates in the CSV are always ISO (YYYY-MM-DD), whatever display format you picked in Settings, so imports do not depend on a locale. Amounts are plain numbers with a dot as the decimal separator.

Free CSV, with a stated limit

CSV is the one export open to everyone. On the Free plan the file contains the first 25 rows, and the page tells you how many more rows were left out. The Day pass and Pro plans export every row. We think that is the fair way to let you test real output on your own statement before paying for anything. See pricing.

Safe to open in a spreadsheet

A transaction description is text from the outside world. One that begins with =, +, - or @ can be interpreted by Excel or Google Sheets as a formula, which is a known way to attack spreadsheet users. Tallyscope neutralises such cells in its CSV, Excel and JSON exports, so opening the file never runs anything from a statement.

Several PDFs, one CSV

If you load several statements, the CSV contains all of them, with the statement and account columns telling you where each row came from. Rows Tallyscope identifies as duplicates from overlapping statements, or as transfers between your own accounts, are still in the file, but the Counted in totals column marks them so a pivot table can leave them out. Nothing is removed silently.

What can go wrong

• Scanned PDFs are read with OCR. Clean scans work well; blurry ones can leave digits wrong. Flagged rows and the statement status show where. Read bank statement OCR for the details.
• No running balance. Some exports, such as certain credit card statements, have no balance column to check against. The rows are extracted, but the statement is shown as Unverified.
• Dates are not proven. The balance check proves amounts and direction, not dates.

From CSV to the next step

If you want an Excel workbook with the extra statement and summary sheets, use PDF to Excel. If your bank offers a structured download instead of a PDF, formats such as OFX and MT940 convert more reliably still, because there is no layout to guess.

Open Tallyscope to convert a PDF now.