What you get in the Excel file
The downloaded .xlsx workbook has two sheets:
- Transactions – columns for Date, Description, Debit, Credit and Balance, with an autofilter on the header row. Dates use the YYYY-MM-DD format and amounts use a two-decimal number format.
- Summary – the number of transactions, total debits, total credits, and the opening and closing balance when the statement states them.
Because debits and credits are in separate numeric columns, you can total them with =SUM(C:C) and =SUM(D:D), or calculate a net movement with =SUM(D:D)-SUM(C:C).
Why Excel instead of copying from the PDF?
Copying a table out of a PDF usually pastes everything into one column, splits descriptions across rows and turns amounts into text. Fixing that by hand takes longer than the analysis you wanted to do. FinParse reconstructs the table from the position of each piece of text on the page, joins wrapped descriptions back together and converts amounts like 1,234.56 Dr or (45.00) into proper numbers.
Tips for accurate results
- Download the statement as a PDF from online banking rather than scanning a printed copy.
- Convert one statement period at a time. Very long statements are slower and harder to review.
- After conversion, check that the summary’s closing balance matches the closing balance printed on your statement.
- Filter the table by “Needs review” and fix any flagged rows before downloading.
Working with the data in Excel
A few quick things to try once the workbook is open:
- Insert a PivotTable to total spending by month or by description.
- Add a Category column and use filters to group similar transactions.
- Use conditional formatting to highlight large debits, for example amounts above a threshold you choose.
Our guide on cleaning bank statement data in Excel walks through these steps in more detail. If you need a plain file for another tool, you can also convert the statement to CSV.