Pulling the transactions off a statement is the easy half. The half that matters is knowing that nothing was dropped, no month is missing and no credit landed in the debit column. All three survive a glance: the output has the right columns, the dates are in range, and it still looks right.
Every statement is checked by its own arithmetic
The opening balance plus every extracted movement has to equal the closing balance printed on the PDF. A dropped row breaks that sum, and so does a credit read as a debit. The check sheet sets the three figures side by side for every statement, so you can see each one tie without opening the file.
A full folder is not a full year
Twelve files is not twelve months. A folder can hold the expected number of files where one is misnamed by a year and another repeats a period already there. We identify each statement by the period printed inside it, not by its file name, and check that each closing balance equals the next statement’s opening balance. A gap shows up as a break in that chain, and we list it. See a complete set with a month missing.
Columns are placed by heading, not by position
Some statements and reports leave a column blank on rows where it has no value. Anything that reads cells by position then shifts every later value one place to the left, and credits become debits. The result can still balance; it is simply inverted. We place each value by the column the document declares, and keep the source beside the output so any row can be compared. See a report read by position.
Scans and photos
Scanned and photographed statements are read twice by independent methods. Where the two readings of a figure disagree, the row is listed on the check sheet for you to confirm, rather than passed through as if it were certain.
What you do with the file
Import it into Xero, QuickBooks or your own system. The coding, the reconciliation and the bookkeeping stay with you. If you want to test a set before sending it, our note on whether a bank statement set is complete walks through the same checks.