statement.work for tax preparation
For tax preparation, statement.work turns a year of bank statements into one consistent, categorized spreadsheet, so totals by category and the transactions behind them are ready when you or your tax preparer need them.
Tax time is a bank statement problem
Whether you prepare returns for clients or gather numbers for your own, a lot of tax preparation comes down to the same task: going through a year of bank statements and pulling out the transactions that matter. Income received, business expenses, payments that need supporting detail. When the statements are PDFs, scans or photos, that means a long session of reading and retyping.
statement.work does the extraction, so the time goes on decisions instead.
A year of statements, one spreadsheet
- Collect all twelve months (or the relevant tax year) for every account. Check none are missing by matching each statement’s closing balance to the next one’s opening balance.
- Convert them in one batch. Each statement comes out with the same columns: date, description, amount, running balance and category.
- Stack them into one workbook, adding a column for the account name if there are several.
- Total by category with a pivot table, and filter the transactions behind each total when you need detail.
- Ask direct questions in plain words, such as “What did we pay in bank fees this year?”
Categories are a starting point
statement.work’s automatic categories give you a first draft of where the money went. Tax categories are a different, stricter list that depends on your jurisdiction and situation. Map statement.work’s categories to the ones your return or preparer uses. Our categorization guide includes a sample list and tips on keeping categories consistent.
statement.work does not give tax advice. Questions about what is deductible, or how to treat a transaction, belong with a qualified tax professional.
For tax preparers working with clients
Clients rarely deliver tidy records. Some send PDFs, some send scans, some send a box of paper. Converting everything into the same format means your review workbook, pivot tables and checks work the same for every client. Flags for duplicate charges, fee spikes and unusual transactions give you a short list of questions to ask before you finalize anything. See also statement.work for accountants.
Before you start: a short checklist
- All statements for the tax year, for every account the business or person used.
- Statement periods that join up with no gaps.
- Opening and closing balances that agree with the converted data.
- A category mapping you will use for every account.
- Notes on transfers between your own accounts, so they aren’t counted as income or expense.
The full tax season checklist expands on each point.
Keep the originals
Keep the original statements alongside your spreadsheets. The converted data makes the work faster, but the statements are the source records.
Questions
Does statement.work prepare or file tax returns?
No. statement.work turns bank statements into clean, categorized data. Tax decisions and filing stay with you or your tax professional.
Can I convert a full year of statements at once?
Yes. You can upload several statements in one go, and they all come out in the same format, so twelve months stack into one sheet.
Are the categories the same as tax categories?
Not necessarily. statement.work categorizes transactions into everyday groups like rent, payroll and subscriptions. Map those to the categories your tax return or preparer uses.