Check a bank statement PDF is complete before you import it

A common rule among bookkeepers: verify the opening and closing balances before you categorize anything. If the math fails, something is missing, often a whole page. Catch-up work makes this matter more. You are rebuilding a record from source documents, not just typing them in, so prove the set is complete first and categorize second.

This takes a few minutes per statement-month and needs only the numbers printed on the statement and the rows you extracted.

1. Check each month on its own

1. Take the opening balance (sometimes "beginning" or "previous balance") and the closing balance ("ending" or "new balance") from the statement itself, not from your file.
2. Total the deposits and credits you extracted, then the withdrawals, checks, fees and debits.
3. Check: opening balance + deposits − withdrawals = closing balance. The difference should be 0.00.
4. Many statements print a summary box with total deposits and total withdrawals, sometimes with a count of items. If yours does, compare your totals and counts with it. That tells you which side is short.
5. Look for "Page X of Y" in the header or footer and confirm every page is in the PDF.

Credit cards run the other way: previous balance + purchases + fees + interest − payments and credits = new balance. See credit card statement PDF to CSV.

2. Check the months join up

• Each month's closing balance must equal the next month's opening balance, to the cent.
• Name files by account and period (for example 4821_2025-03.pdf) and sort them. A gap in the names is the fastest way to see a missing month.
• Statement periods don't always follow calendar months. A cycle ending on the 17th is fine, as long as each period starts the day after the previous one ends.
• A break between two months that each tie on their own usually means a missing statement, a statement from a different account mixed in, or a bank adjustment between periods.

A worked example

Example numbers only, made up to show the method. They are not from a real account or a real delivery. Opening and stated closing come from the statement; deposits and withdrawals are totals of the extracted rows.

How to read it:

• January ties. The rows add up to the stated closing balance.
• February doesn't tie. The rows leave the balance 585.00 too high, so 585.00 of withdrawals are missing. In this example the PDF holds pages 1, 2 and 4 of 4. Page 3 is not there.
• April ties on its own, but doesn't join up. Its opening balance (3,402.10) doesn't equal February's closing (2,975.48), and the file names jump from Feb to Apr. The March statement is missing.

3. When it doesn't tie: what the difference tells you

• Equals one transaction: that row is missing, or was picked up twice.
• Twice one transaction: a deposit was entered as a withdrawal, or the other way round.
• Divisible by 9: often two digits swapped (for example 54.00 typed as 45.00).
• A round block that matches no single row: look for a missing page, or a section the extraction skipped (checks paid, fees, interest).
• A few cents: usually a misread digit in a scanned statement. Check rows against the PDF.

4. What to do next

1. Missing page: download the statement again from online banking. A page sometimes drops out when a PDF is printed or split.
2. Missing month: download it, or ask the bank or the client for a copy. Some banks charge for older statements.
3. Still doesn't tie with every page present: go row by row. Our free tie-out checker shows the row where a CSV stops balancing.
4. Don't plug it. Don't post a balancing entry to force a month to tie before you know why. Write down what is open and which month it affects, and keep going with the months that do tie.
5. Only then import and categorize. A month that ties before import is far easier to reconcile later. See beginning balance off if a reconciliation already won't balance.

Where a converter fits

Many converter tools now run a running-balance check on the statement you upload, and that is worth having. On a catch-up you still need every month to tie and every month to join the next, across the whole period.

LedgerReady is done for you. For each statement-month you get a QBO file, a Xero CSV, a plain CSV and a tie-out sheet showing opening balance + net activity = closing balance, with the difference shown. You can lay the sheets side by side to check each closing against the next opening. If the output doesn't reconcile to the statement's opening and closing balances and we can't fix it, you don't pay for that statement. We aim to deliver within 12 hours.

The full routine is in how pros do catch-up. For gathering the statements, see missing bank statements. Converted a statement with ChatGPT or Claude? See how to check that output before you import.

Bank menus change; labels here were accurate to our knowledge in Oct 2026, so check your bank's help pages if something differs.