The review screen: check and edit lines

The review screen is where you check what BankWriter found before anything leaves the app. Every cell is editable, the totals update as you type, and anything uncertain is flagged for your eyes.

Editing lines

Click any cell to edit it. Dates, descriptions, debits, credits and balances all accept changes.

Totals recompute the moment you commit an edit. Debit and credit sums, the calculated closing balance and the difference all refresh immediately. Nothing has to be re-run to see the effect of a correction.

The table columns are Date, Description, Debit, Credit and Balance, plus the account columns described below.

Row options

Right-click a row for the rest of the options:

• Insert Row Above and Insert Row Below — add a line by hand.
• Invert Sign — move a line between debit and credit. Select several rows first and it reads Invert Signs (N Rows).
• Delete Row — drop a line you do not want in the export.
• Inspect Source Row — open the original PDF at that line.

Add Row, Invert Signs and Clean descriptions are also buttons in the toolbar.

How do I search and filter lines?

A search bar sits just above the table, always visible. Press Ctrl+F to jump into it, or click it.

Type a word or two and BankWriter matches them against the description and date of every line. All your words must match, so adding a word narrows the result. A "n of N lines" counter keeps score, Enter and the arrow buttons step through the matches, and Esc clears the search.

Numbers work too:

• A plain number — 100.00 — finds lines with exactly that amount.
• >500 and <20 find amounts above or below a figure.
• 20..40 finds amounts inside a range.

Beyond words and amounts, is: narrows by status — is:review for flagged lines, is:debit and is:credit by side, is:manual for rows you added by hand. Click the circled ? beside the bar for the full list; every example in it is clickable, so you can try one without typing.

By default, matches are highlighted while everything stays visible. Switch on the Filter toggle beside the bar and the table shows matching lines only.

Totals for a selection

Select two or more lines and an info bar appears above the toolbar with the maths for just that selection: line count, debits, credits, net, balance change and the date span covered.

A check mark beside the figures confirms the balance change agrees with the net. A red cross means they disagree, which usually points at an edit worth a second look inside that selection.

How do I check a line against the original PDF?

Each row carries a small magnifier in its own narrow column. Click it and BankWriter opens the source page with that line highlighted in green.

The window is titled Inspect — Row N · Page N, so you always know where you are. Scroll to zoom and drag to pan. Four buttons sit along the top: zoom out, zoom in, Fit row and Fit page. Use Fit row to snap back to the highlighted line, and Fit page to see the whole page for context.

Inspect spares you from opening the PDF in another program and hunting for the right line. Rows you added by hand have no source page, so their magnifier stays disabled.

The summary strip

The summary carries the opening balance, closing balance, total debits, total credits, the calculated closing balance and the difference between the two. Above the figures sits the status: Reconciled when everything agrees with the totals printed on your statement, or a plain warning when it does not.

Underneath is the flag breakdown — Needs review, Balance issue, Multi-account, No amount, Manual entry and Clean — each with a count.

You choose where the summary sits. In Settings → Review summary, pick Side, Top or Both. Side puts a panel down the right. Top runs a single strip across the window. Both mirrors the figures in each place. Your choice persists and applies to every statement after that.

Date format and row density

Both controls live in the review toolbar, and both are remembered between sessions.

The date dropdown offers YYYY-MM-DD, MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, DD.MM.YYYY, DD-MM-YYYY, DD Mon YYYY and DD Month YYYY. Pick one and every date in the table re-renders straight away. Your export uses the same format.

Row density has two settings, Compact and Comfortable. Compact fits more lines on screen. Comfortable gives each line more room. Defaults for both live in Settings.

Account columns

When BankWriter can tell which account a statement belongs to, two extra columns appear: ACCOUNT TYPE and ACCOUNT NUMBER. These are statement-level values, so every line from the same account carries the same pair. A combined export therefore stays attributable when you have processed several accounts.

Account numbers are masked by default, shown as ••••1234. If your workflow needs the full digits, set Settings → Account numbers to Full digits. Masking is the default because exported files get shared, and a masked number is safer to send.

The account type itself has a dropdown at the top of the review screen — Chequing / Savings or Credit Card — if you need to correct it for one statement.

Reordering rows

Rows can be moved. The narrow first column shows each row's line number; hover it and the number swaps to a drag handle. Drag it and a green line marks where the row will land. Edits, flags and Inspect data all travel with the row.

Approving

When the table looks right, click Approve to finish the review. BankWriter then asks where to save and in which format — see Exporting your data for the choices.

In a batch the button reads Approve & Continue and moves you to the next statement instead. See Batch processing.

For a reminder of what happens before this screen opens, read Converting a statement. To tidy up messy payee text, read Clean descriptions.