Bank Statement Balance Checker: Find Where a Statement Stops Reconciling
Drop or paste a bank CSV export. Every running balance is checked against the one before it, opening to closing is proved, and the first row that breaks is pointed out — free, no signup.
Free · No signup · Runs in your browser. Your file is read on this device and is never uploaded to BankSheet.
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How to check a bank statement balance
Export the transactions as CSV
Download the statement period as CSV from your bank, or use the CSV a converter produced. Include the running balance column if the export has one.
Drop the file or paste the rows
The header row is found automatically, even below a bank's summary lines. Check the detected Date, Description, Amount (or Debit and Credit) and Balance columns, and change any that are wrong.
Add the printed balances if you have them
Type the opening and closing balance from the PDF statement. Without them, the opening is implied from the first running balance and the closing is the last balance in the file.
Read the verdict and fix the first break
Every row must equal the previous balance plus its own amount, within ±0.02. The first row that fails is where to look; the difference is usually the amount of the missing or doubled transaction.
Running balance check vs opening-to-closing check
An opening-to-closing check only proves the total: opening balance plus every deposit minus every withdrawal should equal the closing balance. It tells you something is wrong, not where.
A running balance check repeats that sum on every row. When a bank export carries a balance column, each line must follow from the line before it, so the first row that does not is exactly where a transaction was dropped, doubled, or mis-signed.
Find a missing transaction in a bank statement
When the reported balance jumps by more than the row explains, the gap is almost always one transaction. If the difference is positive, a deposit of that amount is missing just before the flagged row (or a withdrawal of that amount was entered twice). If it is negative, a withdrawal is missing.
If the balance does not move at all on a row that has an amount, the row is usually a duplicate. The checker also lists rows with the same date, description and amount so you can confirm genuine repeats such as two identical card payments.
Bank reconciliation check before QuickBooks or Xero
Run the check before you import a CSV into QuickBooks Online or Xero. A clean pass means the rows explain the balance change; it does not categorise anything or match your ledger. That still happens in your accounting software.
BankSheet (getbanksheet.com) runs the same opening-to-closing check, with the same ±0.02 tolerance, every time it converts a statement PDF.
Works with these exports
Any comma, semicolon or tab separated bank export with a header row works:
- One signed Amount column, or separate Debit and Credit (Withdrawal and Deposit, Money out and Money in) columns.
- Oldest-first or newest-first row order — detected from the balances.
- US (MM/DD/YYYY), UK and EU (DD/MM/YYYY), ISO (YYYY-MM-DD) and written dates like Oct 5, 2026.
- Amounts written as $1,234.56, (1,234.56), 1.234,56, 12.00- or 12.00 DR.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if my bank statement balances?
Take the opening balance, add every deposit, subtract every withdrawal, and compare the result with the closing balance. This tool does that sum to the cent and, when the export has a running balance column, repeats it for every row so it can show where a difference starts.
How do I find a missing transaction on a bank statement?
Include the running balance column when you export. The checker reports the first row whose balance does not follow from the one before. The missing or extra transaction sits just before that row, and its amount is usually the difference shown.
What if my CSV has no balance column?
Then only the totals can be checked. Type the opening and closing balances printed on the statement and the checker compares them with the sum of the transactions.
What tolerance does the check use?
Plus or minus 0.02, to absorb rounding on statements that print rounded balances. It is the same tolerance BankSheet uses when it converts a statement PDF.
Can it read a PDF bank statement?
This free tool reads CSV exports. For a text-based PDF statement, BankSheet (getbanksheet.com) extracts the transactions, runs the opening-to-closing check and exports CSV or Excel. The first 10 pages are free.
Do you see or store my bank data?
No. The file is read by JavaScript in this page and the result is built on your device. Nothing from the file is sent to a server. We only record that the tool was used, with a rough row-count range and the outcome (for example pass or fail), never dates, descriptions, amounts, or balances.
More free bank statement tools
- Bank CSV to QuickBooks & Xero format — Turn any bank CSV export into the QuickBooks Online 3- or 4-column layout or the Xero bank statement template, with dates and signs fixed.
- Duplicate transaction finder — Find duplicate transactions in a bank CSV, or merge overlapping exports and download one clean file without the double-counted rows.
- OFX to CSV converter — Open an OFX, QFX or QBO bank download as a CSV: dates, signed amounts, payee, memo, check number and FITID, ready for Excel.
- All free tools