How to turn bank statements into CSV files

Accounting tools import CSV because it's a boring, predictable format: plain text, one row per line, values separated by commas. Excel files carry styling, formulas, and merged cells — all of which can trip up an importer.

That means converting to Excel is only the first step. If you're importing into bookkeeping software, you almost always want CSV as the final output.

Upload the PDF bank statement on the homepage. The extractor produces an .xlsx file with one row per transaction. If the automatic pass has any misaligned columns, use the Inspect tool to fix them before downloading.

Open the .xlsx. Delete any junk rows the extraction picked up (usually a header, footer, or table title). Make sure amounts are real numbers, not text (they should right-align).

Match your CSV column order to whatever your accounting tool expects. QuickBooks Desktop, for example, prefers Date, Description, Amount in that order; Xero expects Date, Amount, Payee, Description. Check your tool's docs.

In Excel: File → Save As → choose 'CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)'. In Google Sheets: File → Download → 'Comma-separated values (.csv)'. Either produces a plain-text CSV your accounting tool will accept.

Warning: CSV can't hold formulas or multiple sheets. Anything computed in Excel becomes its literal value in the CSV. Fine for transaction data — the CSV is the transport format, Excel is where you did the work.

Upload the CSV in your accounting tool's import flow. Most tools will show a preview and let you map columns before committing — take the extra thirty seconds to check that Date is Date, Amount is Amount, and negative vs positive signs match your bank.

Right now this tool outputs .xlsx directly, not CSV. Going Excel → CSV takes two clicks and is often what you want anyway, since it gives you a chance to clean before importing. Native CSV export is on the near-term roadmap.