Processing a single bank account statement isn’t a huge operational difficulty. With only one PDF document is involved, even manual entry seems feasible.
Divide this task into hundreds of businesses, many bank accounts, and a variety of statement times.
The problem has changed. The issue changes. It’s not only about increasing the speed of conversion of bank statements for bookkeeping and accounting firms. It’s about developing systems that work when the volume grows.
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The biggest bottleneck is repetition
Think about an accounting company receiving monthly PDFs from several clients. One client is Chase one, and the other Wells Fargo. Others send statements from Bank of America or Capital One.
Open each PDF file and manually enter every transaction manually.
A bank statement converter can shift that workflow from transcription toward review. Docubrew takes the transaction data directly from bank statements instead of estimating the financial value. The result is a well-organized file that can be examined prior to its use. As the volume of documents increases, this distinction becomes even more vital.
Batch Processing Changes the Equation
It may make sense to manually convert files occasionally. Accounting firms are often faced with a different set of challenges. Docubrew allows for multiple documents to be transferred and processed in a single session, and the results available individually. The company can thus process a set of client files without manually rebuilding every transaction table.
If the accounting workflow needs CSV files, then users can convert bank statements to CSV and review the resulting transaction information prior to moving forward.
Scanned paper documents aren’t automatically excluded. Docubrew provides OCR for PDFs that have been scanned. This can be useful when a client is dealing with an assortment of native PDFs and scans in their documents from the past.
Create Output to complete the Accounting Work Ahead
The process doesn’t finish when the conversion is completed. The transactions generally have to be routed somewhere.
Docubrew can export CSV, Excel and QBO. If you are a team member who needs to move bank statements into Quickbooks, QBO provides an alternative output option in addition to the more general spreadsheet formats.
Companies that convert bank statement data into Quickbooks regularly may develop a more uniform process around the receipt of statements, the processing, the checking and extraction of the data, and the creation of the required records for the accounting workflow.
Human oversight is crucial. While automation may reduce repetitive transcriptions, bookkeepers still have to verify financial data and complete accounting work.
Client data deserves its own workflow decisions
A higher volume of documents can also mean more sensitive data about clients.
Docubrew offers two processing techniques. Windows desktop programs perform conversions locally. Files are able to remain on the computer. Docubrew states that the cloud option allows upload of documents encrypted and all saved and transformed documents are deleted automatically within 24 hours.
Accounting practices can choose the method that best suits their specific needs.
Scale the Process, not the Repeated Work
A growing bookkeeping practice will expect more financial documents. This shouldn’t be the case of automatically accepting more copy-and paste work.
If you’re dealing with 50 customers, does the process that has been successful for five clients be logical?
By standardizing the process of receiving and converting, reviewing, and creating statements for accounting software, businesses can establish workflows for regular volumes rather than treating every new PDF like a manual task.