Import a Bank Statement Into PocketSmith (OFX/CSV)

Why PocketSmith won't import your PDF

PocketSmith is a cloud budgeting and forecasting tool, and it accepts bank files in OFX, QFX, QIF, and CSV, but not a PDF. A statement PDF is a printed page, not transactions PocketSmith can add to an account and project forward from. So the file your bank gives you has to be one of those types first. When the bank only offers a PDF, converting it, ideally to OFX, is the step that produces a file PocketSmith imports, so your history feeds the categories and forecasts rather than sitting unusable in a document.

Drag the file onto the account

PocketSmith's import gesture is direct: from the Account Summary, you drag the converted bank file straight onto the account it belongs to, and the import begins for that account. There is no deep menu to hunt through. PocketSmith reads the file and stages the transactions against that account for review. Because a converted file comes out clean, the drop-and-import is a quick step rather than a troubleshooting exercise, and OFX in particular imports smoothly since most banks and the converter alike produce it in a standard shape.

CSV column mapping, remembered per account

A CSV takes one extra step in PocketSmith: on import you identify what each column holds, which is the date, which the amount, and which the merchant, so PocketSmith knows how to read it. A useful touch is that it remembers the last CSV format you used for that account, so a recurring import from the same source is faster the next time. A converted CSV helps by coming out with clear, consistently ordered columns, which makes that first identification quick. Even so, an OFX skips the mapping entirely, which is why it is the smoother file to hand PocketSmith.

Bank files for history older than the feed

PocketSmith offers bank feeds, but there is a catch that makes file import matter even for connected accounts: the initial feed import reaches back only about ninety days. So to load transactions older than that, a full year for a proper forecast baseline, you use bank files. Converting your older statements to OFX and importing them is how you backfill the history the feed cannot reach, which is exactly what a forecasting tool wants. File import is also the route when your bank has no feed at all, or when you simply prefer not to connect it.

Accuracy and privacy

Since a statement is dense, every transaction is reviewable in the converter before export, so a misread merchant or amount is fixed up front rather than after the import. The output is a clean OFX or CSV in the shape PocketSmith expects. Because the statement holds real account activity, the file is processed to build it and then deleted automatically, with nothing retained on a server afterward, so the only place the transactions land is your own PocketSmith account.

Frequently Asked Questions