Convert UK bank statements to Excel, CSV or QBO

UK statements read day first. Dates appear as DD MMM, for example 05 Mar, or as DD/MM/YYYY, so 03/04 means the third of April, not the fourth of March. A converter tuned for US files gets this wrong without any visible error, which is why every UK bank on this site has its own date rules. Amounts are in pounds sterling with a dot for pence. Instead of one signed amount column, most UK banks print separate columns for money out and money in, often labelled Paid out and Paid in, with a running balance next to them.

Running balances make UK statements good to check. When the balance is printed on every line, or at least on the last line of each day, each transaction can be tested against the one before it. Several banks print the balance only once per day, so we check at the end of each day rather than on every row. Some statements mark an overdrawn balance with DR after the figure instead of a minus sign; Barclays, for one, lists DR as meaning the account is overdrawn. The converter reads a trailing DR as a negative balance.

Descriptions carry short transaction type codes, and each bank picks its own. HSBC uses DD for direct debit, SO for standing order, CHQ for cheque and CR for credit, while Barclays uses DDR, STO and BBP for bill payment. We keep these codes in the description so bank rules in Xero or QuickBooks can match on them. Brought forward and carried forward lines are balances, not transactions, and are left out of the rows. Many UK banks let you download recent activity from online banking as a CSV file, usually for a limited window. The bank pages below give the menu path for each one, and the PDF remains the record for older months and for formal requests such as a mortgage application.