BS&A Bank Reconciliation Import of Cleared Checks from PDF Statements
Oct 5, 2026
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BS&A can clear checks from an import file instead of one click at a time, but it reads a CSV of check numbers, dates and amounts, not a PDF bank statement. When the bank only gives you a PDF, or the statement is a scanned paper copy from a prior year, convert it to CSV first, shape the columns to your BS&A import format, and import that file. A month of clearing that used to take hours becomes a short review.
This guide is for finance directors, treasurers, clerks and deputy treasurers who reconcile in BS&A Financial Management, and for the outside accountants who help a township, city, county or school close the year. It covers what BS&A says its bank reconciliation can import, how one Michigan county put that to work, and how to build the same import file from a PDF statement.
What BS&A bank reconciliation can import
BS&A describes its cloud General Ledger bank reconciliation in plain terms. You identify open and cleared transactions individually, in groups, or through an import file from your bank. The same screen groups cash transactions by deposit, handles multiple bank accounts and pooled cash, and lets you look items up by amount range, type or status. BS&A says more than 2,100 organizations use its software, almost all of them local governments, schools and utilities.
The import is the part most offices never switch on. Van Buren County, Michigan, wrote up how its Treasurer's Office and its Digital Information Department did it in October 2025. They set up a custom import format, fed BS&A a CSV from the bank with check numbers, dates and amounts, and ran it through BS&A's existing Positive Pay Import feature, which had been sitting in the system the whole time. A one-record test file cleared without a problem, and the office estimated the change would save two to three hours a month. Their next step was to bring miscellaneous and credit card transactions into the same process.
| How cleared items get marked | What you need | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| One at a time | The statement and the outstanding list | A small account with a dozen checks a month |
| In groups | Deposits already grouped in BS&A | Deposit batches that clear as one bank credit |
| Import file from the bank | A CSV with check number, date and amount | Operating and payroll accounts with hundreds of checks |
| Import file built from the PDF | The PDF statement, converted to CSV | Months, accounts or banks where no clean export exists |
Why the bank file is often not there
The county's bank gave it a clean CSV. Many offices are not that lucky, and even the ones that are run into gaps:
- A small local bank or credit union whose online banking offers a PDF statement and a short activity download, but no file with the check numbers in their own column.
- Months that have aged out of the bank's download window, which is exactly what you face when an audit finding sends you back to reconcile last year.
- Paper statements for a tax collection, trust and agency, or building authority account that nobody set up for online access.
- A new treasurer or a new auditor inheriting reconciliations that were never finished, with a box of statements as the only record.
In all four cases the statement exists, it lists every cleared check with its number, date and amount, and it is a PDF. That is the input our converter is built for.
How to build a BS&A import file from a PDF statement
The PDF bank statement to CSV converter reads the transaction table and writes it out as rows and columns. From there it is a few minutes in Excel.
- Upload the PDF statement with the converter at the top of this page. A statement downloaded from the bank portal and a scanned paper copy both work; scans go through OCR.
- Check the extracted rows against the statement's beginning balance, ending balance and check total, then export CSV.
- Open the CSV in Excel and keep the rows you want BS&A to clear. For a check clearing import that is usually just the check lines. Arrange the check number, date and amount columns in the order your BS&A import format uses, and format check numbers as text so leading zeros survive.
- Save a copy with a single row and import it first. That is how Van Buren County proved its process: a one-record file that cleared exactly the right check.
- Import the full file, then review what BS&A cleared against the statement. Anything left over is either an outstanding item, a deposit to clear in a group, or a line that needs a journal entry.
- Reconcile the general ledger cash account to the statement ending balance and save the reconciliation for the audit file.
Which columns does the import file need?
BS&A does not publish one fixed layout for every customer. The import format is set up in your system, which is why Van Buren County describes it as a custom format. The fields it relies on are the ones every bank statement already prints. The table shows how to prepare each one from a converted statement.
| Field | Where it comes from on the statement | What to check before import |
|---|---|---|
| Check number | The check or serial number column | Digits only, leading zeros kept, no # sign |
| Date | The posted or paid date | Use the date format your import setup expects, with a four digit year |
| Amount | The check or debit amount | Plain number, no dollar sign or thousands comma, sign as your format expects |
| Description | Payee or memo text, if printed | Optional for check clearing, useful for deposits and ACH lines |
If you are not sure how your format is set up, start from what you already have. If your office sends positive pay files to the bank, that file carries the same three facts about each check, so its layout is a good starting point. Otherwise ask whoever configured BS&A for the import layout, and prove it with a one-row test.
Checks, deposits and everything else on the statement
Checks are the easy part, because the check number makes each match exact. Deposits and electronic lines take more thought. A deposit made of several receipts usually clears in BS&A as a group, so it is often faster to clear those on screen than to import them. ACH payroll, card settlements, bank fees and interest may have no matching item in BS&A at all and need a journal entry before the account will tie. Keep those rows in the converted file anyway. A complete list of what cleared, in the bank's own order, is what you check the result against.
For a scanned statement, the scanned bank statement converter route uses OCR, and the extracted rows carry the same columns as a digital PDF. Check a scanned month against its printed totals with extra care before importing, since a smudged digit on paper becomes a wrong amount in the file.
Catching up a year before the audit
Catching up unfinished reconciliations before the auditor arrives is where this saves the most time. Convert the statements in date order, clear one month at a time, and save each reconciliation before starting the next. A problem in March then stays in March. If the catch-up is part of a wider push on internal controls, a compliance management tool can track the corrective action plan and the controls your auditor will test again next year.
The same approach works in other fund accounting systems. Nonprofits on MIP Fund Accounting import a statement file through the MIP bank reconciliation import, and the bookkeeping cleanup converter page covers batching a backlog of statements across any ledger.
What it costs
Converting is the only paid step. OFXStatement Starter is $49 a month, or $24.50 a month billed yearly, for 2,500 pages from one shared pool. Statements that include check images run longer than plain ones, but even at 30 pages a month, a year across an operating, a payroll and a tax collection account is about 1,080 pages, well inside one Starter month. Plus is $149 a month for 10,000 pages with bulk upload of up to 50 files at once, which suits accounting firms that close the books for several municipalities. You can test 15 pages without a credit card, which is enough to prove one month end to end before anyone signs a purchase order.
Weigh that against the alternative. At two to three hours of clicking per month, one account costs a treasurer's office a working week a year, and that estimate came from an office that already had a clean bank file.
BS&A bank reconciliation questions
Can BS&A import a PDF bank statement?
No. BS&A bank reconciliation can clear transactions from an import file from your bank, and offices that use it import a CSV with check numbers, dates and amounts. A PDF statement has to be converted to CSV first, then shaped to your import format.
How do I clear checks in BS&A without clicking each one?
Use an import file. Van Buren County set up a custom import format and ran its bank's CSV of check numbers, dates and amounts through BS&A's Positive Pay Import feature, which cleared the matching checks in one pass. Test it with a one-row file first.
What file format does the BS&A cleared check import use?
A CSV file. The import format is configured per customer, but it is built on the check number, the date and the amount. Match the column order and date format of your setup, keep check numbers as text, and remove dollar signs and thousands separators.
Can I reconcile old months in BS&A from paper statements?
Yes. Convert each scanned statement to CSV with OCR, check the rows against the printed totals, and import one month at a time in date order. Deposits that cleared as a batch are usually quicker to clear as a group on screen.