PocketSmith Import Transactions from PDF Bank Statements: Convert to OFX

TL;DR: PocketSmith imports transactions from OFX, QFX, QIF and CSV files, not from PDF statements, and it recommends OFX. To get PDF-only months into PocketSmith, convert each statement to OFX, then use Transactions, Add, Quick import, match the file to the account and choose how to handle overlapping dates. A US bank feed through Plaid reaches back up to 2 years at best, so anything older has to come in as files.

PocketSmith is built around forecasting, and a forecast is only as good as the history under it. The first bank feed import gives you somewhere between 90 days and 2 years, depending on the provider and the bank. If you want five years of spending trends, a clean tax year for a side business, or the history from an account you closed, the rest is sitting in PDF statements that PocketSmith will not read. The upload box at the top of this page converts those PDFs, scanned ones included, into OFX files PocketSmith imports.

How do I import transactions into PocketSmith?

Go to Transactions, click Add, choose Quick import, drag in an OFX, QFX, QIF or CSV file, match it to the right account, pick an overlap option and start the import. You can also drop a bank file directly onto an account or use the account's Manage Account menu. PocketSmith recommends OFX because it follows a fixed specification and needs no extra setup; with OFX it also tries to choose the right account for you.

Here is how the files you are likely to have line up against what PocketSmith accepts.

Can PocketSmith import PDF bank statements?

No. PocketSmith's own help article says it cannot import bank statements or PDF files because a PDF is a presentation format, and it suggests asking your bank for OFX, QFX, QIF or CSV instead. That works for recent months. It usually does not work for older ones: most US banks only offer downloads for the last 90 days to 2 years, while online statement archives commonly go back 7 years.

The fix is to convert the PDF. A converter reads the transaction table on each page and writes an OFX file with the date, signed amount, payee and a transaction ID on every line. Our PDF to OFX converter does this for checking, savings and money market statements, and the credit card statement to OFX converter writes card statements as card accounts so charges and payments land the right way round.

How far back do PocketSmith bank feeds go?

PocketSmith publishes guidelines by data provider, with the warning that results vary by bank.

PocketSmith's own recommendation for anything older than the first feed import is to upload bank files. That is the job PDF conversion does when the bank no longer offers the files.

How to import a PDF bank statement into PocketSmith

1. Upload one statement month with the box at the top of this page and download it as OFX. Check the extracted rows against the PDF first, especially dates and signs.
2. In PocketSmith open Transactions, click Add and choose Quick import.
3. Drag in the .ofx file. You can drop several months at once.
4. Match each file to the right account in the dropdown. If the account does not exist yet, for example a card you closed years ago, create it first.
5. Choose the overlap option (see the next section), then click Import my transactions and Start Import.
6. Open the account and compare its balance on the statement end date with the closing balance on the PDF. When they agree, the month is complete.

Which overlap option should you choose when backfilling?

PocketSmith asks what to do when a file covers dates that already have transactions. The three options behave very differently, and the wrong one can cost you work.

• Replace transactions on overlapping dates is PocketSmith's recommended choice. It replaces everything in the file's date range, which also removes labels, notes and other edits you made to those transactions.
• Leave transactions on overlapping dates out keeps what you have, but it can drop genuine transactions from the file that happen to share a date. It is also why an import sometimes reports that there were no transactions to import.
• Keep all transactions imports everything and may create duplicates. PocketSmith does not recommend it.

The clean way to avoid the question is to make sure there is no overlap. Find the date of the oldest transaction the bank feed brought in, and only convert statements that end before it. For the one statement that straddles the feed start, import it with Replace before you spend time categorizing that month, so nothing you care about gets overwritten.

PocketSmith import CSV: when a spreadsheet makes sense

CSV works too. PocketSmith asks you to identify the Date, Amount and Merchant columns, and you can also map categories, labels and notes if the file has them. Save the layout as a named format and the next file of the same shape imports without the mapping step. CSV is the better route when you want to edit rows first, for example to split a mixed personal and business card or to add categories in bulk.

Two things trip people up. PocketSmith warns that a CSV opened in Excel before import can come back with dates it rejects as invalid, because Excel rewrites them when it saves. And some banks list amounts with the opposite sign, so expenses show up as income; the import screen has an option for amounts that are reversed. Our PDF bank statement to CSV converter writes one signed amount column with US dates, so import the file exactly as downloaded, without opening and saving it in Excel first. And if you do not need to edit anything, OFX is less work.

Which PocketSmith plan do you need for file imports?

File imports are not a paid extra. The plans page lists bank feeds and manual imports on every plan, including Free, and the difference is how many banks you can connect and how many accounts you can have. These are the prices on PocketSmith's plans page in September 2026.

The Free plan's limit of 2 accounts is the one that bites when you backfill: a checking account and one card, and you are full. A household bringing in years of checking, savings and two or three cards will be on Foundation at least.

How much does it cost to convert your PDF statements?

You can test up to 15 pages with no credit card, which is enough to run one or two statements through PocketSmith end to end before you pay anything. A year of one checking account is typically 12 statements of 2 to 6 pages. The Starter plan at $49 a month covers 2,500 pages a month on the faster AI model, so a household's five-year backfill across several accounts usually fits in a single month, and you can cancel when it is done. See pricing for the plans.

Self-employed PocketSmith users often backfill for a second reason: a full year of a business card or checking account for Schedule C. The same OFX files give you the transactions, and if you also need the receipts behind those card charges sorted by category, expense software that reads receipts handles that side of the paperwork.

Moving to PocketSmith from Quicken, Money or Mint-era apps

PocketSmith has dedicated importers for some older tools, and it takes OFX, QFX and QIF exports from desktop programs. The months those programs never saw, or accounts you never tracked in them, come from statements. If you are still choosing between PocketSmith and the desktop options, our comparison of the best Microsoft Money replacements covers PocketSmith next to Quicken, Moneydance and Banktivity. For the same job in other apps, see Monarch Money imports from PDF statements and the Moneydance import converter.

Frequently asked questions

Can you manually import transactions into PocketSmith?

Yes. Manual imports of OFX, QFX, QIF and CSV bank files are available on every PocketSmith plan, including Free. Use Transactions, Add, Quick import, or drop the file on an account. PDF statements are not accepted, so convert them to OFX or CSV first.

What file types does PocketSmith accept?

PocketSmith accepts OFX, QFX, QIF and CSV files and recommends OFX, because it follows a defined specification and needs no extra information from you. QFX is treated as a standard OFX file. CSV needs you to identify the date, amount and merchant columns.

Why does PocketSmith say there are no transactions to import?

Usually because every transaction in the file falls on dates that already have transactions and you chose to leave overlapping dates out. Pick the Replace option for that file, or only import statements that end before the bank feed's first transaction.

Can PocketSmith import older transactions than the bank feed?

Yes. PocketSmith recommends uploading bank files for anything older than the first feed import. When the bank only offers PDF statements for those months, convert them to OFX and import the files with Quick import.

Does PocketSmith detect duplicate transactions when importing?

PocketSmith handles overlaps by date range rather than by matching single transactions: it replaces, skips or keeps everything on overlapping dates depending on the option you pick. Keep files from overlapping each other and from the feed period, and duplicates do not come up.