Bank statement glossary for PDF to CSV

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Anatomy of a statement line

Most of the terms below describe parts of a single row like this one, or the numbers around it.

The terms, A to Z

A

Available balance

The amount you can currently spend or withdraw, which can differ from the posted balance because of pending items or holds. Some statements show it, many show only the posted balance.

PDF to CSV: Use the balance printed in the running-balance column for checks, not an available-balance figure from a summary box; they can legitimately differ.

B

Bank feed

A connection that sends transactions from a bank straight into accounting software, without you handling a file. It is a different route from importing a CSV you made from a statement.

PDF to CSV: A bank feed is not a PDF at all. PennyTie converts PDF statements and does not connect to banks.

C

Carried forward

Some statements break a long list across pages and print a subtotal or balance at the bottom of one page and again at the top of the next, often labelled "carried forward" or "brought forward". It is a running figure, not a new transaction.

PDF to CSV: Page-break balance lines can look like transactions. Check that they are not exported as extra rows, or totals will be off.

Closing balance

The balance at the end of the statement period, after all transactions on that statement. It should equal the opening balance plus credits minus debits (for a card, the sign logic may be reversed).

PDF to CSV: It is the main number to check your CSV against: opening balance plus the converted rows should land exactly on it.

CR and DR

Short labels printed after an amount: CR for credit and DR for debit. The meaning depends on whose point of view the statement takes, and conventions differ between account types.

PDF to CSV: The CR or DR marker can sit beside the number as text. If a tool drops it, a debit can turn into a credit, so spot-check a few rows.

Credit

In everyday bank language, a credit on your account is money coming in. On a credit card statement a credit usually reduces what you owe, such as a refund or payment.

PDF to CSV: Credits may sit in their own column or be shown as a plain positive number. Confirm which column or sign your CSV uses for money in.

CSV

Comma-separated values: a plain text file where each line is a row and commas separate the columns. Almost every spreadsheet and accounting tool can open or import one.

PDF to CSV: Descriptions that contain commas must be wrapped in quotes, or the columns shift when you import.

D

Date format

Dates can be written day-month-year, month-day-year or year-month-day, with slashes, dots, dashes or month names. A date like 03/04/2026 is ambiguous without knowing the convention.

PDF to CSV: Look at an unambiguous date, such as one with a day above 12, to confirm the order before importing.

Debit

In everyday bank language, a debit is money leaving your account, such as a purchase, a transfer out or a fee. On a card statement it is a charge that increases what you owe.

PDF to CSV: Debits may be shown as a separate withdrawals column, with a minus sign, in parentheses or with a DR marker. Make sure the CSV uses one consistent convention.

Decimal and thousands separators

Amounts are written as 1,234.56 in some places and 1.234,56 in others, with the comma and the dot swapping jobs. Some use a space or an apostrophe as the thousands separator.

PDF to CSV: A tool that guesses the wrong separator can turn 1.234 into one point two three four. Check one large amount after converting.

Description (narrative)

The text that names a transaction: a merchant, a payee or a transfer note. Banks often shorten it, add codes, or split it across several lines.

PDF to CSV: A description that wraps onto a second line can be read as a separate row. Look for rows that have text but no date or amount.

F

Fees

Charges the bank applies, such as monthly account fees, transfer fees or foreign transaction fees. They appear as ordinary debits, and sometimes in a separate summary block.

PDF to CSV: Fee summaries are often totals of rows already listed. Do not count a summary and its rows twice.

I

Interest charged

The cost of borrowing, shown on credit cards, loans and overdrawn accounts. It usually posts as its own line, often near the end of the period.

PDF to CSV: Interest lines are real transactions and should be in your CSV. A year-to-date interest total in a summary box should not be.

L

Ledger

A book of accounts where each transaction is recorded. In bookkeeping, your accounting software holds the ledger, and the bank statement is the outside record you compare against.

PDF to CSV: A CSV is only the raw input. Your ledger entries still need to be categorised and matched.

M

Minimum payment

The smallest amount a card issuer asks you to pay by the due date. It appears in the summary section of card statements.

PDF to CSV: Summary figures like this are not transactions. Make sure only the transaction table ends up in the CSV.

O

OCR

Optical character recognition: software that reads text from an image, such as a scanned page. It makes scanned documents searchable and extractable, but it can misread digits.

PDF to CSV: PennyTie has no OCR and reads text-based PDFs only. If your statement is an image, you need a text version from the bank or a separate OCR step.

OFX and QBO

Bank file formats used to import transactions into accounting and personal finance software. QBO is a variant used with QuickBooks.

PDF to CSV: PennyTie does not support OFX or QBO. It outputs CSV and XLSX only.

Opening balance

The balance at the start of the statement period, which should match the previous statement's closing balance. It is the starting point for all the movements that follow.

PDF to CSV: Opening balance is usually not a transaction row. Keep it out of the rows, but use it when you check the total.

Overdraft

When an account is spent below zero, usually under an arrangement with the bank. The balance is then negative and fees or interest may apply.

PDF to CSV: Negative running balances may appear with a minus sign, parentheses, or a DR or OD marker. Check that the sign survives conversion.

P

Parentheses for negatives

Accountants often show a negative number in brackets, so (45.00) means minus 45.00. Some statements use this for debits or for overdrawn balances.

PDF to CSV: A tool that ignores the brackets will treat (45.00) as positive. Compare a few negative rows with the PDF.

Pending vs posted

Pending transactions have been authorised but are not final. Posted transactions are settled and counted in the balance. Statements normally list only posted items, while online banking shows both.

PDF to CSV: Copying from a web page can mix pending items with posted ones. A statement PDF is the cleaner source for reconciliation.

R

Reconciliation

Matching the transactions in your books to the bank statement, until the totals agree and every difference is explained. It is how you find missing, duplicate or wrong entries.

PDF to CSV: Reconciling starts with a CSV whose totals match the PDF. If they do not, fix the conversion before you look for bookkeeping errors.

Reference number

An identifier on a transaction, such as a cheque number, a payment reference or a bank-assigned ID. It helps match a line to an invoice or a record.

PDF to CSV: References can look like numbers and lose leading zeros in a spreadsheet. Import that column as text.

Running balance

A column that shows the account balance after each transaction. Some statements print it on every line, others only at the end of each day or not at all.

PDF to CSV: It is the best built-in check: each row's balance should equal the previous balance plus or minus the amount.

S

Scanned PDF

A PDF made from a picture of a paper page. It looks like text but contains only an image, so you cannot select or search the words.

PDF to CSV: If you cannot highlight the text in your PDF viewer, it is probably scanned. PennyTie cannot read it. See the guide linked below.

Statement period

The date range that a statement covers, often one month. Some statements start and end on the first and last day of a month, others on billing dates that differ.

PDF to CSV: Check the first and last transaction dates against the period, so you know that no pages are missing.

T

Text-based PDF

A PDF that contains real text, usually downloaded from online banking. You can select and copy the words, which makes it possible to read the transactions out directly.

PDF to CSV: This is what PennyTie reads. Statements downloaded from your bank's website are usually text-based; photographs and scans are not.

Trailing minus

A negative sign written after the number, such as 45.00-, instead of before it. Some systems and statements use this style.

PDF to CSV: A reader that expects -45.00 may treat 45.00- as text or as positive. Check negative rows after converting.

V

Value date vs transaction date

The transaction date is when you made the payment. The value date is when the bank counts it for balance or interest purposes. They are often the same, but can be a few days apart.

PDF to CSV: If a statement has two date columns, pick one and use it consistently. Mixing them makes reconciliation harder.

X

XLSX

The file format of modern Excel workbooks. It can hold several sheets, number formats and formulas, unlike a plain CSV.

PDF to CSV: XLSX keeps numbers as numbers and avoids some CSV quirks, but check that dates were not turned into text.

Questions

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