How to check a converted bank statement is actually correct

Any converter can hand you a spreadsheet full of plausible numbers. The question that matters is whether anything is missing - and a spreadsheet with a hole in it looks exactly like one without.

The check that proves it

Every statement carries its own proof. It prints an opening balance, a closing balance, and the transactions between them. So:

opening balance + sum of all transactions = closing balance

If that holds to the cent, no row was dropped, no amount misread, no sign flipped. If it does not, something is wrong and you know before you rely on the file.

Doing it yourself in Excel

1. =SUM() over the Amount column.
2. Add the opening balance printed at the top of the statement.
3. Compare with the closing balance printed at the bottom.

If your total is out, the difference is often the missing figure itself - search the statement for that number. A difference of exactly twice a transaction usually means a sign was flipped rather than a row lost.

Using the balance column

If the statement prints a running balance, check row by row: each balance should equal the one above it plus that row's amount. The first row where that breaks is where the error is.

What we do with it

This runs on every conversion before you get the file. Three checks are tried in order of strength: opening and closing balances, then the running balance column, then any totals the statement publishes about itself.

If it does not reconcile, the file is flagged and free. Better to say the numbers cannot be vouched for than to hand over a clean-looking spreadsheet nobody can stand behind.

When no check is possible

Some documents publish nothing to check against - many credit-card statements, some wallet exports, and faded scans where the balance column cannot be read. Those are marked unverified and never charged. Spot-check them by hand against whatever figure the document does give.

Convert a statement with the check built in