PDF to QIF (or other)?

PDF to QIF (or other)?

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I have a client who only has the statements in PDF format, is there anything out there that can convert the pdf to QIF for import into Xero?  There are a lot of transactions so I would ideally like them imported if there is a way.  I have able2extract but the csv import route seems quite complicated?

Replies (16)

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By Cloudcounter
11th Jul 2014 12:26

Autorec will take bank statements and convert to a csv file that can be imported into Xero.  Works for pdf statements and for scanned bank statements

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By amalonio
11th Jul 2014 13:20

Yes autorec from a company called OCREX is perfect for this, we use it all the time in our practice and is invaluable when converting bank statements to Xero as not a lot of the banks in Northern Ireland/Ireland offer the bank feed function.

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By carnmores
12th Jul 2014 12:04

yes there are a number of solutions from
Pdf to other formats such as excel that can then be qiffed. Above ,nuance and Paul Scholes and my favourite. Able2extract is really very simple once you've done it once you'll never look back

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By Karen Bennett
16th Jul 2014 17:18

AutoRec & Xero
Thanks @Cloudcounter & @amalonio! Glad you like AutoRec !! Thanks exactly what AutoRec does. You can convert either hard copies or PDF, tiff or jpeg digital files of your bank, credit card & online statements to a spreadsheet format. AutoRec will extract all of the transactional data for you; the date, transaction description, debit value, credit value and there is also a calculated running balance. We have a large number of customers using AutoRec and Xero. There is a specific Xero csv export in AutoRec that is designed in the format that Xero accepts. I know before we developed this Xero csv export some accountants where having difficulty with the Xero process which is why we decided to add this as a feature to save our customer time compared to mapping out the csv file. We also have user information in the help section with AutoRec to help you through importing into Xero.  AutoRec additionally has developed specific exports for all the leading accounts software packages such as Sage, IRIS, CCH, VT, Vitztopia, Relate and many more. @MissAccounting if you want to have a look at it we could arrange to show you a demo? We could show you the Xero export also. 

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By chatman
17th Jul 2014 23:22

Able2Extract and csv Import
csv import to Xero is really very simple. I would recommend giving it a go. But no need to spend all your money on Auto Rec. Able2Extract is a fraction of the cost, and there is a free trial.

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By Karen Bennett
18th Jul 2014 09:46

AutoRec Trial

There’s a trial with AutoRec also. What’s different about the AutoRec trial is that we will do the trial with you to show exactly how it works. We do this through a screen share webinar.

If you had a batch of say 10 or so of those statements we can bring them into AutoRec for you extract the data. We can then show you how to export to the Xero export and provide you with the csv file to import directly into Xero.

Our assisted trials take about 10 – 15 minutes. Email me if you are interested [email protected]. If nothing else you’ll have some PDF statements converted for free. 

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By chatman
18th Jul 2014 09:58

Able2Extract costs USD99 (about £58)

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KCL
By davidakime
18th Jul 2014 10:15

Has to be Autorec and then Xero

Once you have tried it you will never ever look back

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Replying to DJKL:
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By chatman
18th Jul 2014 10:39

Why?

davidakime wrote:

Has to be Autorec and then Xero

Once you have tried it you will never ever look back

You have to give reasons to support a statement like that, otherwise people might think you know nothing about the alternatives, and are not speaking from a position of any authority. Why, for example, is Autorec better then Able2Extract for the OP's purposes and why is Xero better than Clear Books?

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KCL
By davidakime
18th Jul 2014 10:53

Why?

Okay here is my reasoning

1. Autorec works - have not had one occasion when it has failed to recognise data and export into the format we require. 1 lever arch file full of statements into Xero ready to go in less than 90 minutes. Why would I look elsewhere?

2. Xero import of the above data works seemlessly every time, add in the bank rules and cash coding and it is brilliant

3. Support from Autorec including training is excellent

Works for us so if it isn't broken why fix it?

As to why they are better, why do some people buy Audi and some BMW, because the prefer them over the other

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Replying to paul.benny:
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By chatman
18th Jul 2014 11:42

Why?

davidakime wrote:
1. Autorec works - have not had one occasion when it has failed to recognise data and export into the format we require. 1 lever arch file full of statements into Xero ready to go in less than 90 minutes. Why would I look elsewhere?

2. Xero import of the above data works seemlessly every time, add in the bank rules and cash coding and it is brilliant

So basically, you recommend it above other solutions because it works. Well that is good, but it assumes that other solutions don't work or offer no other advantages over the recommended solution.

Able2Extract, Clear Books and VT also work and have different pros and cons. I would not advise against Xero without knowing more about the client, as Xero is very good, but Able2Extract seems to have the clear advantage over Autorec of price.

davidakime wrote:
3. Support from Autorec including training is excellent
This is a good reason.

davidakime wrote:
Works for us so if it isn't broken why fix it?
No-one is suggesting you should fix it, but the thread is about what is best for someone else, not you.

davidakime wrote:
As to why they are better, why do some people buy Audi and some BMW, because the prefer them over the other
I cannot see the relevance of that answer, but if I asked whether I should buy a BMW or an Audi and someone said "BMW all the way", I would expect them to be able to justify that recommendation, especially if the BMW were more expensive.
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By Karen Bennett
22nd Jul 2014 15:46

Able2Extract Trial

I downloaded the Able2extract trial to get a feel for it.  I only looked at it for an hour so I may need to invest more time in the trial before I give any more feedback.

So the first few steps of uploading a document were fine. I did find the speech bubbles instructions good explaining the first few steps but the speech bubbles then disappeared after a few seconds. I uploaded 7 statements but the trial only allowed me to convert 3 pages at a time. I then uploaded just one statement. I selected the automatic convert to excel option. But when it converted I saved the file but it just a blank excel sheet?? I tried it a few times and the same thing happened. Then I tried Custom Conversion which forces you to pick your own Excel sheet layout meaning you must map out your columns and rows yourself, which is both time consuming and frustrating. It does however allow you to preview the document before exporting which is good.

It also imports all irrelevant header and footer information to spreadsheet which I subsequently removed from spreadsheet manually. I could not find any option to completely omit header and footer information. I selected ‘Show rows’ which gives a series of lines that highlight how the OCR extracts data from the document. I noticed that many of the rows picked up by the OCR are irrelevant to my data capture needs (i.e. adverts in sidebars) but the software can’t seem to recognise this.  However I can manually erase these row lines but it was time consuming. I was still was unable to get an excel file with just the date, description and credit/debit in separate columns.

@Chatman, a few questions, if you wouldn’t mind helping me.

Are there any tips on initially setting up a trial?

Is there an easy way to check if your figures came in correctly?

Do you need to map out what columns you want and what other information you don’t want for every type of document you upload?

If you can set up a custom extraction column structure for one bank statement like Barclays, does it remember how you want your bank statement formatted for next time?

Is training and support an additional cost to the £58?

I consider myself to be tech savvy enough but I didn’t find this solution very user friendly. I will have a look at it again if I can get some tips. But fair enough if it works for you it works. 

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By chatman
23rd Jul 2014 09:39

Able2Extract

Hi Karen - I haven't used it for a long time, as I don't tend to get paper statements regularly; only  really if I am taking on a backlog for some reason or other. I don't remember having any problems or needing support but I realise your set-up and statement might be different. Sorry I cannot help more there. Paul Scholes is a big fan of Able2Extract and is always very able to explain his software decisions, so he might be able to help. Actually, I have just noticed that Carnmores has recommended it too, above, so he might be able to help.

I have just remembered I came across this recently http://www.statementreader.com/#!pricing/ci2u I have never tried it, but it might be of interest to you.

For complicated reconciliations, Reconcilable is good.

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By Karen Bennett
23rd Jul 2014 11:34

Thanks

Hi Chatman,

Thanks. I'll have another look.

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By chatman
17th Oct 2016 10:52

The only problem I can see with converting directly to a qif file, is how do you check the conversion before importing it to your accounting software? With csv files, you can open them in Excel and check the conversion has been done correctly first.

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By chatman
17th Oct 2016 10:59

This is really good for converting pdf statements to csv/Excel http://www.statementreader.com/ . Accuracy is really good and it is pay-as-you-go.

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