Batch processing: convert many statements at once

A month-end run rarely involves one statement. Drop the whole pile on BankWriter at once and work through it in a single pass, with one export at the end.

How do I start a batch?

Drag any number of PDFs onto the BankWriter window, or click to browse and multi-select. The files you have queued appear as chips on the main window, so you can check the list before starting.

BankWriter then works through them one at a time, in order. You do not have to wait at the screen — each statement opens its own review when it is ready.

Reviewing each statement

Every statement gets the full review screen: editable cells, the summary strip, flagged rows and Inspect. Nothing is skipped or shortened because you dropped ten files instead of one. See The review screen for what each control does.

The difference is the button. Instead of finishing the run, it reads Approve & Continue and hands you the next statement. The window title tells you where you are, such as Review 3 of 11.

Export options

After the last statement, the Export Options dialog opens. It covers the whole batch in one step.

Individual writes one file per statement, named after its source PDF. Combined merges every approved line into a single file. Both writes the individual files and the combined file in the same run, which is the usual choice when your client wants the detail and your ledger wants the roll-up.

For what each format is good for, see Exporting your data.

Review each statement

Before you export, Review each statement opens the Statement Status list for the whole batch.

The header gives you the shape of the run at a glance — how many statements reconciled, and how many need attention. Under it, every statement has its own card showing its name, its line count, and a count of anything flagged.

Each card has a button on the right: Edit review ›, or Fix in review › when that statement needs attention. Click it and the statement re-opens on the rows you already edited. Adjust whatever you like, save, and you land back on this list. Nothing is processed again, and none of your earlier edits are lost.

That round trip is the point of the list. You can move quickly through a batch, approve everything, then come back and deal properly with the two statements that need it — rather than slowing down for all of them.

A practical month-end run

A little organisation pays off on a large run.

• Put one client's statements in one folder before you start. The batch takes its file names from the PDFs, so tidy names in means tidy names out.
• Set your output folder in Settings first. Every file in the run then lands in the same place without you steering each save.
• Set your cleanup rules before the run, not during it. They apply across the batch either way, but deciding early saves a second pass. See Clean descriptions.
• Move fast on the clean ones. Approve anything that reconciles, and leave the rest for Review each statement at the end.
• Export Both when you need per-statement files for the client file and one combined file for import.

There is no cap on how many statements a batch can hold. Very large runs simply take longer, and you can stop after any statement — everything you approved up to that point is still there when you reach the export step.