Processing a single bank account statement isn’t too much of a problem. Even manual entry can seem manageable when only one PDF is involved.
Then, multiply this task across many businesses, several accounts, and numerous statement intervals.
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The situation changes. The problem changes. For bookkeeping and accounting companies improving the efficiency of bank statement conversion isn’t just about making one document faster. It’s about establishing a procedure that is still effective when demand for the service increases.
Repetition Is the Real Bottleneck
Imagine that an accounting company receives PDFs every month from multiple clients. One client sends the statements of Chase, another Wells Fargo and others Bank of America, Capital One or Citi.
In the process of opening every PDF and manually entering each transaction involves repeating the exact mechanical operation over and over.
A converter for bank statements can change the workflow of transcription to review. Docubrew takes transaction data from the statements themselves rather than estimating financial values, producing structured files which can be inspected prior to their use. This feature is more important as the volume of documents grows.
The process of batch processing alters the equation
For occasional conversions It is possible to manage files separately. Accounting firms are often faced by a totally different situation. Docubrew allows for multiple statements to be uploaded and processed in one batch, with distinct results. So, a company can work through a collection of client records without manually rebuilding every transaction table.
If the accounting workflow requires CSV files, users can convert bank statements to CSV and review the resulting transaction data before moving forward.
Scanned paper reports aren’t automatically excluded either. Docubrew provides OCR for PDFs scanned. This can be helpful for clients who have an assortment of native PDFs and scans of their old records.
Create output to help with the accounting work that is ahead
The conversion isn’t the end of the procedure. The transactions generally must be carried out.
Docubrew can export CSV, Excel, and QBO. If you’re a member of a team who wants to transfer bank statements to Quickbooks, QBO provides an export option that is available alongside the more general spreadsheet formats.
Businesses that regularly convert bank statement data to Quickbooks regularly can develop a procedure that is more consistent in the receipt of the statements, their processing, their analysis and extraction of the information, and the preparation of the necessary files for the accounting workflow.
Human reviews are still crucial. Automation could eliminate repetitive transcription, but bookkeepers remain responsible for checking financial information and doing the accounting process in a timely manner.
Client information is a valid basis for its own workflow decision
Higher document volume also means handling more sensitive client data.
Docubrew has two methods of processing. Windows desktop programs perform conversions locally. Files can remain on the computer. Docubrew claims that cloud uploads documents encrypted and all uploaded and converted documents will be deleted in 24 hours.
Accounting practices may choose the method that best suits their internal needs.
Scale Processes, Not Repetitive Work
Growing bookkeeping practices should result in more financial documents. This shouldn’t be a case of automatically accepting more copy-and paste tasks.
If you have 50 clients, is the method that worked for 5 clients still make sense?
By standardizing how statements are received, converted, reviewed and created using accounting software, businesses can design a workflow to be recurring rather than considering every PDF as an entirely new manual task.