AccountEdge Import Bank Statement from PDF as OFX for Reconciliation

Can you import a PDF bank statement into AccountEdge?

Not directly. AccountEdge imports OFX, QFX, QIF, OFC and QuickBooks Web Connect (QBO) statement files, and PDF is not on that list. The practical route is to convert the PDF statement to OFX first, then bring it in through Reconcile Accounts with Import Statement or Get Statement. AccountEdge then matches the lines to the transactions already in your company file and marks them cleared.

That list comes from AccountEdge's own import guide. Its knowledge base also says CSV and Excel files have to be converted before import, so the spreadsheet you exported from online banking will not load into the bank statement window either. OFX is the format every one of those routes ends in, and it is the format our converter writes.

Why AccountEdge users end up with PDF statements

AccountEdge sells Bank Feeds as a $5 a month add-on powered by Plaid. It works well for current activity. Its own FAQ sets two limits worth knowing before you rely on it: in most cases you get about a year of transactions, depending on what each institution sends, and you cannot sync transactions from before your fiscal year start.

So the months that cause trouble are predictable. A new company file set up in the middle of the year. A catch-up job where the client stopped reconciling eighteen months ago. A loan account or small bank that Plaid does not reach. An account the business closed, where the only record left is a folder of PDF statements. Your bank's own OFX download usually covers recent months only, and after that the PDF is all you have.

How to import a bank statement into AccountEdge from a PDF

Convert the PDF to OFX, open Reconcile Accounts, choose the account, click Bank Statement and Import Statement, and select the file. The full routine we would follow for one statement:

1. Upload the PDF statement with the box at the top of this page. One account per file works best, since AccountEdge imports a statement into the account you pick in the Reconcile Accounts window.
2. Review the extracted rows against the statement totals, then download OFX.
3. In AccountEdge, open the Banking command center and click Reconcile Accounts. Enter the bank or credit card account in the Account field.
4. Click Bank Statement, then Import Statement (or Get Statement from the Bank Register). Select the OFX file, click Open, then OK.
5. Work the unmatched lines: Match Transaction for entries already in your file, Add for bank fees, interest and anything you never recorded, or skip.
6. Enter the statement closing balance and finish the reconciliation as usual.

For a year of catch-up work, do it month by month and reconcile each statement before you import the next one. AccountEdge carries the closing balance forward, so a month that does not reconcile is easier to fix before eleven more are stacked on top of it.

How AccountEdge matches imported transactions

AccountEdge documents its matching rules plainly, and they explain almost every "why did this not match" question. Deposits and most other transactions need the same amount and the same date. Checks need the same check number and amount.

We would rather you hear the check limitation from us than find it on your first import. Our OFX writes the transaction type, posting date, amount, a unique transaction ID and the payee description, but it does not write a separate check number field. For a business that writes a few checks a month, matching them by hand costs a minute. For one that writes hundreds, factor that in.

Set up Bank Statement Rules before a big import

AccountEdge lets you create Bank Statement Rules that fire during import. A rule looks at the payee text on the statement line, using Contain, Starts With, Ends With or Exactly, and fills in the card, allocation account, job or department when you Add the transaction. Before you import a year of statements, set up rules for your recurring vendors, card processors and bank fees. The descriptions in our OFX are the bank's own text (the first 32 characters in the payee field, the full line in the memo), so rules written against your bank's wording keep working month after month.

Which PDF to OFX converter works with AccountEdge?

Any converter that writes a standard OFX file will import, because AccountEdge reads the Microsoft Money style OFX that banks publish. The differences are price, how the vendor counts usage and whether it reads scanned statements. Prices below come from each vendor's own pricing or store page.

The unit matters more than the headline. MoneyThumb sells conversions, where one statement is one conversion regardless of length. We sell pages from a shared monthly pool, so a year of 4 page statements for three accounts is 144 pages, well inside Starter. ProperConvert is a flat subscription with no volume cap. If you want a longer walk through these tools, we compared them in our PDF to OFX converter roundup.

What an accountant should check after the import

• The statement ties. Opening balance plus deposits minus withdrawals equals the closing balance printed on the PDF. Check this in the converter before you download, not in AccountEdge afterward.
• Nothing imported twice. If the Bank Feed already brought in part of the month, import only the statements that fall outside its window. Each line in our OFX carries a stable transaction ID, but a Bank Feed line and a converted line for the same payment are two different records.
• The right account. AccountEdge imports into the account selected in Reconcile Accounts. A credit card statement belongs in the card liability account, with charges as withdrawals.
• Dates on the posting side. The OFX uses the posting date the bank printed. If your team records checks on the date written, expect those to need a manual match.

Scanned and photographed statements go through the same upload; the converter reads them with OCR, which covers the shoebox of paper statements that tends to come with a cleanup client. If you are importing card statements, the credit card statement to OFX converter page covers the sign conventions.