Categorize Bank Transactions from a Statement PDF
Once your statement is rows instead of a PDF, sorting spending into categories takes a short lookup table rather than an afternoon with a highlighter.
Your file is never uploaded. RowSmith reads text-based PDF statements in your browser. Scanned PDFs aren't supported yet. Always review the rows before you use them.
Open the free statement converter
Steps
- Convert the statement PDF and open the file in your spreadsheet app.
- Create a small table of keywords and categories, such as GROCER and Food.
- Add a category column that looks up a keyword found in each description.
- Review rows left blank and add new keywords as you go.
Good to know
Start small
Ten to fifteen categories cover most households and small businesses. Too many make monthly totals hard to read, and you can always split one later.
Messy merchant names
Card networks add store numbers, towns and reference codes to descriptions. Matching on a short, distinctive keyword handles those variations better than matching the full text.
Summaries
A pivot table with category down the side and month across the top gives you a spending report you can refresh whenever you add a new statement.
Questions
Does RowSmith assign categories now?
Not in the free version. It gives you clean rows, and the categorizing happens in your spreadsheet.
Can I reuse my keyword table?
Yes. Keep it in its own sheet and copy it into each new month's file.
This guide was written with AI assistance and reviewed against the converter's behaviour. Always review your output before using it.
RowSmith is an independent tool and is not affiliated with any bank or software company.
Converting is free. RowSmith Pro ($9/month or $59/year) adds suggested Schedule C categories, saved cleanup rules and monthly category totals.