MIP Bank Reconciliation Import from PDF Bank Statements

Can MIP import a PDF bank statement?

No. MIP imports cleared bank items from a CSV or fixed width text file through the Data Import/Export module, using the MasterBK.DEF definition file. A PDF is not a file MIP can read. The working route is to convert the PDF statement to CSV, add the few columns MIP requires, map them in a copy of MasterBK.DEF and run the import. The items in the file are marked cleared, and you finish the rest of the reconciliation on screen.

Every field name, menu path and limit on this page comes from MIP's own product documentation. Our part is the conversion. The converter reads the statement, digital or scanned, and writes the transaction table to CSV, so nobody types a month of checks and deposits into a spreadsheet before the import can even start.

Why nonprofit finance teams reconcile MIP from PDF statements

MIP added Automated Bank Feed Clearing in version 2021.2, and the feed does a good job on a main operating account at a large bank. MIP's own blog is clear about the limit, though. The aggregator behind it reaches back only 90 days. A grant restricted account at a community bank, a credit card, an investment sweep account or an account the organization closed last year usually has no feed at all, only a monthly PDF.

The 90 day wall matters most at the worst time. A new finance director inherits six months of unreconciled cash. An auditor asks for every bank reconciliation for the fiscal year before fieldwork starts. A single audit needs the restricted grant account reconciled month by month. In all of those cases the source document is a stack of PDF statements, and clearing them one line at a time in MIP is where the days go.

How to import cleared items into MIP bank reconciliation from a PDF

Convert the PDF to CSV, add the type, cash account, date and document number columns, map them in a copy of MasterBK.DEF, prevalidate, then import and finish the reconciliation in MIP. The routine we would follow for one cash account and one statement:

1. Upload the PDF statement with the box at the top of this page and export CSV. Scanned statements work the same way.
2. Open the CSV in Excel and keep the transaction rows. Delete bank fees, interest and other lines that have no document in MIP yet; you will enter those separately.
3. Add the columns MIP asks for: a type word (CHECK or DEPOSIT), the GL cash account, the statement ending date and the document number. For checks, the number is usually printed on the statement line. For deposits, type the MIP deposit document number.
4. Save as CSV. Copy MasterBK.DEF from the Master DEF Files folder inside the MIP Import folder, point its FILE statement at your CSV, and set each BKREC field to the right column.
5. Add the PREVALIDATE statement for the first run, so MIP tests the definition and data without importing anything. Fix whatever lands in the error exception file.
6. Remove PREVALIDATE, import through File, Import (MIP Fund Accounting) or Operations, General Ledger, Import (the current web version), then open the reconciliation and finish the remaining items by hand.

The definition file is set up once. Next month you convert the new statement, paste the rows into the same column layout, and run the import again. Teams with several cash accounts keep one CSV layout and change only the cash account and date.

The MasterBK.DEF fields MIP expects

MIP's Data Import/Export guide lists seven field IDs for bank reconciliation items, all in the BKREC context. Six are required, and the check and deposit flags are required only for the item types you are reconciling. The table maps each one to the column you will have after converting the statement.

Two rules trip people up. First, the amount carries the sign: deposits are positive and checks are negative. The CSV keeps the columns your statement prints, so if withdrawals and deposits sit in separate columns, combine them into one amount column with a simple formula (deposit minus withdrawal) and a check of $1,250.00 becomes -1250.00. Second, the check and deposit flags are exact words. If your type column says CHECK, the definition file has to look for CHECK, not CK. When both words sit in the same column, MIP's guide tells you to use 0 as the column number, as in BKREC_CHECK_FLAG,0,CHECK, so MIP looks for the word anywhere on the row, and to map the description column with BKREC_DESC.

A sample bank reconciliation data file

Here is what four statement lines look like after conversion and the extra columns. The first field is the record identifier, HBKREC, which tells the import these are bank reconciliation header records. Two checks clear for $1,250.00 and $386.19, and two deposits clear for $9,400.00 and $2,175.50, all against cash account 1010-000 for the September 30 statement.

HBKREC,CHECK,1010-000,09/30/2026,4518,-1250.00,CHECK 4518
HBKREC,CHECK,1010-000,09/30/2026,4519,-386.19,CHECK 4519
HBKREC,DEPOSIT,1010-000,09/30/2026,CR0915,9400.00,DEPOSIT GRANT DRAWDOWN
HBKREC,DEPOSIT,1010-000,09/30/2026,CR0922,2175.50,DEPOSIT DONATIONS

Match the column order to whatever your copy of MasterBK.DEF says, and keep the cash account format exactly as MIP shows it, segments and separators included. If the statement prints dates without a year, add the year in the spreadsheet before you save. Do not reopen the finished CSV in Excel after saving, because Excel can rewrite dates and drop leading zeros from document numbers.

What to expect after the import

The import marks the matching checks and deposits as cleared in the reconciliation for that cash account. It does not post anything to the general ledger. Bank service charges, interest earned, returned items and any transaction that was never entered in MIP still need a journal voucher, a cash disbursement or a suspense item, the same as in a manual reconciliation. Once the unreconciled difference is $0.00, lock the reconciliation so later activity cannot change the reconciled book balance.

Rows that fail go to the error exception file named in the master definition file. The usual causes are a cash account typed in a different format, a document number that does not exist in MIP, and a flag word that does not match the definition file. Deposits are where most mismatches happen, because the bank shows its own reference rather than MIP's deposit number. Many teams import checks only, which are the bulk of the lines on an operating account, and clear the handful of deposits on screen.

Converting statements for MIP Fund Accounting and the web version

Both MIP Fund Accounting, the desktop product MIP now calls Classic, and the current web version read the same kind of import: a .DEF definition file plus a .CSV or fixed width .TXT data file. Classic opens the import from File, Import; the web version from Operations, General Ledger, Import. MIP's client services team also offers paid help building definition files if you would rather not edit one yourself.

The converter side does not change. One Starter month at $49 covers 2,500 pages, which is a year of statements for most small and midsize organizations, and you can test 15 pages first with no credit card. Plus at $149 a month adds bulk upload of 50 files at once, which helps an outsourced accounting firm working through several nonprofit clients during audit season.