How to Prepare Bank Statements for Your Accountant
A good handoff answers three questions immediately: which accounts, which periods, and whether the files are complete.
Build an account and period checklist
List every business checking, savings, money-market, payment account, and credit card in scope, including accounts opened or closed during the year. Mark the required periods and account ending digits. This catches the quietest problem in bookkeeping handoffs: a missing account or month.
Download institution-issued PDFs with all pages. Do not crop out blank-looking pages until you know they contain no notices, summary continuation, or transaction detail. For year-end work, include the statement that contains the cutoff even when part of its period falls in the next year.
Add working data without replacing the source
If the institution provides CSV, download it for the same dates. If not, convert the PDF to CSV or XLSX with one posted transaction per row. Keep the raw description and source page, use a consistent account-aware sign convention, and reconcile the data to opening and closing balances.
Avoid silently deleting personal-looking or duplicate-looking transactions. Flag owner draws, reimbursements, transfers, loan payments, chargebacks, and uncertain business purpose in a notes column. The accountant should make classification decisions with context rather than discover that source activity was omitted.
Package and transmit the files securely
Use folders or filenames such as institution_account-period_document-type. Include a one-page index listing files, missing periods, reconciliation differences, closed accounts, and questions. Send the package through the accountant’s secure portal or another approved encrypted channel, not an open public link.
Ask about retention and file format before inventing a complex workbook. Different firms use different accounting imports and document systems. A complete, traceable, consistently named package usually saves more time than custom formatting.
- All accounts, including closed and low-activity accounts.
- All requested statement periods.
- Complete PDFs plus CSV/XLSX where useful.
- Reconciliation results and unresolved exceptions.
- Secure transmission and a package index.
Frequently asked questions
Can I redact bank statements for my accountant?+
Ask the accountant first. Redaction can remove account identity or transaction context they need. Use a secure delivery channel and limit access instead of modifying source records without agreement.
Should I combine all accounts into one spreadsheet?+
A combined analysis sheet can help, but preserve account identity and provide separate source statements. Do not merge balances from different accounts into one running-balance sequence.
Sources and further reading
We prioritize regulators, public agencies, and first-party product documentation. Sources support the general guidance above; StatementMint’s workflow recommendations are our own.
- How long should I keep records?Internal Revenue Service
Educational information only—not financial, accounting, tax, or legal advice. Institution terms and your facts control.