Open a lengthy bank statement and you’ll find more than an account ledger for transactions. Account summary, explanations, notifications and disclosures can be found in the essential information that the bookkeeper requires.
If the goal is to move transaction data into a spreadsheet or accounting system, the entire process could be a waste of time. A more focused workflow begins with identifying the most useful pages before creating the output file.

Image credit: docubrew.com
It’s Not a Significance of More Data.
Imagine a business looking at the banking activity of several months. Each month’s PDF may contain 10 or more pages, yet only part of the documents contains transactions tables that are required for accounting work.
Manually copying those tables is one solution but it’s a slow process and opens the door to typing errors. Businesses can also convert bank statements to Excel with the intention of limiting the conversion to specific pages.
Docubrew’s page preview lets a user to review the page and choose what information to take into consideration. You can remove disclosures, cover sheets, or any other pages you don’t need.
You’re in more control when you preview your first
Automation is useful only if you are able to see the process it’s performing.
Docubrew’s preview feature lets users to preview all the pages of the report before converting it. The program extracts figures directly from the source statement, instead of estimating financial figures.
This preview lets you verify that the correct pages are chosen, and to check the extracted information before downloading.
This is an easy but critical checkpoint when is about financial records.
Exports should be shaped by the destination
The next question is what you’re planning to do with the transactions.
Excel is a good option in situations where a bookkeeper must look over rows, categorize information or manipulate the data in a spreadsheet. CSV is an option in the event that the data is being transferred to a different system. Docubrew also can support QBO output.
Someone who would like to convert their bank statement to CSV can do this by generating CSV files. CSV file instead of first creating an Excel document and manually altering the format.
Docubrew’s output was designed to work with accounting platforms like QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks and spreadsheet-based workflows.
Scanned papers can be able to be included in the same workflow
The conversion is possible using any PDF file not only those that have been digitally made.
Some companies have old statements on paper. Docubrew has the ability to scan PDF documents, like statements.
This is useful for historical bookkeeping where the most recent statements were digitalized while older statements were scanned off of paper. They can be converted using the same method followed by a review prior to exporting.
Process locally or utilize the Cloud
It is important to consider how documents are handled and their output.
Docubrew’s Windows Desktop application can convert documents locally on the client’s computer. For users who prefer browsing-based processing cloud, the cloud option secures uploaded documents and, as per Docubrew, automatically deletes deleted and modified documents within 24 hours.
Ultimately, converting a bank statement to Excel shouldn’t mean feeding every page of every PDF into a tool and hoping the output is useful.
Begin by looking through the pages that contain the information you require. Examine what’s being extracted. Then choose the appropriate format to meet the next task in accounting.
Sometimes a cleaner financial workflow is not achieved with processing more data or more, but by intentionally processing less.
