Merkantile provides monthly statements, which represent the monthly activity on the customer’s bank account, including every detail on the type of activity that occurred, such as deposits, withdrawals, transfers, associated fees that may have occurred, as well as the opening and closing balances of the account. These statements allow customers to see the details that make up the account’s transactions. This is particularly useful for business customers, accountants, and financial advisors as these transactions serve as input for bookkeeping, reconciliations, and financial analyses.
As is the case with many banks, customers of Mercantile are able to access their statements online via online banking. Customers can have their statements saved in PDF format for the time period in question. These PDF statements represent the official activity of the account for the period in question, and they serve as useful documents for customers in maintaining their statement records.
PDF documents, however, do have their disadvantages and may prove to be inconvenient for customers attempting to analyze the financial information presented on the statement. Customers may want to manipulate the data presented in their statement to create their own financial models and make calculations, which may prove to be difficult with a PDF statement.
For these reasons, many customers will choose to convert their Mercantile statement to a structured, spreadsheet-compatible format such as Excel or CSV. This will permit the customer greater ease of financial data manipulation and the ability to incorporate the data into existing workflows that may exist in their accounting systems.
Go to StatementConverter.org to convert your PDF bank statement into a structured Excel document to make it easier to analyze.
What to Look For in a Mercantile Bank Statement
Like all other bank statements, Mercantile bank statements contain a record of transactions done during a period of time, known as the statement cycle. The bank statements are designed in a specific format, but most banks provide similar information on their statements.
Some of the information typically available on a bank statement includes:
- starting balance at the beginning of the statement cycle
- Closing balance at the end of the cycle
- transaction dates
- payment and transfer descriptions
- service and bank charge descriptions
- deposit descriptions
- withdrawal descriptions
Typically, a single transaction description consists of the activity’s date, a brief statement regarding the activity, and the transaction’s value. Some banks also include a running balance for the account’s transactions.
As the above information varies, it creates room for numerous uses. Statement holders may need the statement to study their spending, confirm payment, check in on the bank to see if a transaction has been cleared, and so much more. In business, statements are also used to check for received payments, adjust their account balance on the accounting software, and maintain good records.
Accountants and financial analysts examine the data within the statements when compiling reports, conducting reconciliations, or reviewing the statements for audits. When applying for a loan, evidence of statements may be required. Statements are also used for income verification and financial history investigations.
Because a Mercantile statement contains transaction details and summarizes the balance, they are an official record of financial activity for a defined period. That is why banks use structured documents for statements,s because they can be referenced and saved for future use.
Why It’s Hard to Handle PDF Bank Statements
Because they are reliable for presentations and archiving official documents, statements are rendered to PDF to preserve formatting. Financial statements are also fixed in adherence to the rules of the document. It also displays uniformly and effectively across all devices and software.
For all the advantages of a PDF statement, practical limitations exist concerning working with statements.
PDF files are designed for rendering information, not for working with information. Statements are not presented in a database format; therefore, the information is not presented for analysis or use. Thus, sorting, filtering, and categorization are impossible in the statement; therefore, no operations can be performed.
Copying text from a PDF to a different program will also create formatting issues. Transaction rows might be separated, misplaced columns, misaligned numbers, and in some instances, text can be copied as separate pieces instead of a clean row of text.
Aside from the above issues, a manual review can also take a long time. Looking at 5 or 6 months of Mercantile statements will involve individually looking at documents and manually moving transaction data to another system.
Some statements will have extra complexity due to scanned images or formatting. Before extracting data, some images will require optical character recognition (OCR), and even after doing that, the data will still lack a consistent structure.
Because of these issues, it is common practice to convert PDF statements to spreadsheets to do financial analyses.
The Benefits of Converting Mercantile Statements from PDF to Excel
Converting mercantile statements to PDF or CSV documents allows end users to utilize financial data as text and allows them to structure data as text. Each transaction can simply be placed into rows and columns that represent dates, descriptions, and amounts of transactions. At this point, users can perform many other data transactions,s which may not necessarily be Possible in PDF documents.
For example, data can be sorted in chronological order and can be grouped into separate categories, or can have data filter options that allow for the display of only certain data activity limited to a specific number of transactions by category, and a certain date range. Spreadsheet applications also have the ability to incorporate certain data functions. For example, from a monetary Transaction Report, a user can simply calculate and generate a report for a specified period (i.e monthly, yearly, bi-yearly, quarterly, etc.) of the total expenditures, of the analysis of the number of transactions made within that specific period of time (recurring payment), or of the data trend analysis of the payment transactions (i.e. starting, ending, and stopping payment transactions at a certain specified date/ time).
From a data analytical point of view, the ability to integrate many statements into a separate spreadsheet document is a benefit. It prevents the user from having to view a number of separate PDF documents one by one. It allows the user to combine a number of transaction data into a single/ consolidated data set for analysis. StatementConverter allows for the rapid conversion of PDF bank statements into data by enabling users to structure the rows of a bank’s PDF statements into separate, defined cells that can be either analyzed in Excel or imported into other Excel financial tools.
This format will help streamline the process of data entry and reviewing finances.
Instructions for Downloading a Mercantile Statement
You will find downloadable bank statements on the website for your bank. While the design may differ, the instructions for downloading a Mercantile statement are usually the same.
- Go to the Mercantile online banking website and log in. Make sure your connection is secure to protect your bank information.
- Click on the bank account you would like the statement for.
- Find the option for statements, documents, or eStatements. This may be a sub-tab under your account.
- Select a statement to download. Statements are usually provided as a PDF.
- Download the file and keep it on your device.
- Confirm that the download completed by checking that all transactions and pages are included among the statements.
It’s also possible to obtain a statement via a banking app on your mobile device. However, downloading and saving banking statements may be easier on a computer.
Your download should be stored securely.
Potential Problems When Downloading Mercantile Statements
Bank statements are usually easy to download. However, some users may run into issues that will prevent a statement from downloading.
Problems like session timeouts are common. Many online banking systems automatically log users out because of security concerns. If users try to log out of a session while downloading a statement, the system may interrupt the statement download.
Another issue is when older statements are buried in a system interface. Some banks only show a limited number of statements on the main page, while others archive older statements separately. In these cases, users may need to request older statements separately.
Some downloads may also be affected by which browser is used. Some browsers may block downloads, while others may require users to permit saving the document. These problems can typically be solved by removing the browser’s cache or using a different browser.
Mobile devices sometimes present additional limitations. For example, downloading files through a mobile application may open the statement in a viewer without automatically saving it to the device.
Even if your internet connection is stable, corrupted downloads can occur if the connection is interrupted while the file is being transferred. If a statement download is corrupted, downloading the statement again will often fix the issue.
If the stated problems are all present, contacting customer service or using a different device to access statements may help.
Documentation Handling Security Measures
Bank statements contain sensitive data, such as account numbers, transaction histories, and balance details that need to be handled with care.
For that reason, statements should be downloaded and stored on secure devices and networks. Risk of exposure to sensitive data increases when statements are downloaded on public devices or over unprotected internet connections.
In addition, devices storing statements should be password-protected to secure data in case the device is lost or accessed by an unprivileged user.
Also, data sharing should be performed with discretion. In case of a statement that needs to be shared with an accountant, a lender, or any other third party, secure emails are recommended over instant messaging applications because the latter are unsecured.
Lastly, any analysis or conversion of data should be completed, and any temporary files created during the process should be deleted. Keeping unnecessary duplicates increases the risk of exposure.
Transcribing a Mercantile statement PDF to Excel or CSV
When converting a Mercantile statement PDF to a spreadsheet, you organize the statement’s transaction data into rows and columns.
In this instance, the relevant data is extracted on StatementConverter.org, which has a custom-built web process designed for PDF bank statements.
Here’s how it usually works: A user submits their PDF Mercantile statement to StatementConverter. The software parses the statement and identifies the lines it considers to be transaction records.
The system then extracts what it considers to be the most crucial information for each transaction: the date, a description, a value for debit/credit, and any other details. StatementConverter transforms this data into a dataset structured into columns.
After the relevant details of a statement are extracted, the user receives their converted document on StatementConverter.org. Depending on the user’s purpose for the document, they can choose to download it in Excel or CSV format.
When users want to view information and perform analysis using functions, charts, or summary tools, they prefer the converted document in Excel format. In contrast, CSV is the more appropriate option when users want to load the document into accounting or financial analysis software.
Users can handle financial data in a flexible manner by transforming a Mercantile Statement into a structured spreadsheet.
Uses for Converted Mercantile Statements
Once Mercantile statements are converted into spreadsheet formats, they can be easily incorporated into financial processes.
- Transformed statements can be used by individuals to assess their spending and build budgets. In a spreadsheet, transactions can be organized, summed, and compared month by month.
- Freelancers and contractors utilize converted statement data to monitor recorded and paid outgoing payments.
- For bookkeeping and reconciliation purposes, businesses converted statements. Reconciliation involves comparing rows of transactions to some accounting records, so transactions are obtained to maintain accurate accounting records.
- Organized transactions that include accounted for and omitted expenses are used to prepare tax statements earned. Statements can be created from the accounting records to support the expenses, so they can be used.
- Many landlords, lenders, and auditors will ask for financial statements. as a standard to review transactions so they can review the financial statements.
Because filtered and searched aggregates cannot be used in a static PDF, the analysis of a PDF will be more robust than the analysis in a static PDF.
Why Constructed Spreadsheet Data Enhances Financial Understanding
Flexibility and financial understanding go hand in hand. Information held in fixed formats,s such as PDFs and images, makes pinpointing trends and irregularities difficult and time-consuming. Constructing a spreadsheet brings more understanding to financial actions. Grouping and filtering transactions by date, amount, and classification make trends and irregularities more easily identifiable.
Data from multiple periods can be compiled to conduct long-term analysis. Constructed spreadsheet data also improves data search and retrieval. Information on specific transactions can be quickly accessed, and long documents can be bypassed.
Data construction also allows for process automation and readily integrates into advanced financial systems. The majority of financial systems and tools accommodate spreadsheet imports. This is why many users convert bank statements into a spreadsheet for data construction and financial insights.
Mercantile Statements: FAQs
How far back do Mercantile Statements go?
The bank policies and type of account will determine how far back older statements are available. Most online banking services will have older statements available that are stored in the bank’s system and will require you to request them individually.
Are Mercantile Statements available in PDF?
Yes, because of the official document that the bank must provide to you, they will provide it to you in PDF format at the bank’s discretion.
Can you download Mercantile Statements from the mobile app?
Yes, you can. Most mobile banking applications will allow you to do this, although the desktop interface may provide you with easier access to this functionality.
What is the reason why PDF statements are hard to modify?
PDF documents are meant to preserve the document’s design and allow the viewer to modify the document. Unlike spreadsheets, PDF documents lack the structure that allows for easier modification.
What is the process for converting a Mercantile Statement to Excel?
One of the popular methods is to go to StatementConverter.org and upload the PDF Statement so they can convert it to a more usable structure, which will be in an Excel file with the data organized in rows and columns by transaction.
What distinguishes Excel files from CSV files?
Excel files allow formulas, allow you to format them, and allow you to add charts, whereas CSV files are basic data files used to import transactional data into finance and accounting programs.
Can bank statements, both business and personal, be converted?
Yes. Any bank statements, personal or business, that contain data in a format that is readable are able to be converted to spreadsheet file formats.
Is it safe to convert a bank statement?
That is up to you and how the web service you are using to perform that conversion handles sensitive files. It is safe to convert a bank statement when you are using a service you trust and when files are secured after conversion.
Is it necessary to keep the files after conversion?
Converted files are useful for analysis and record keeping, and most users keep the original PDF statement as the record.
Can you convert a statement to help prepare your taxes?
Yes, it is easier to get your data tax ready when you can sort and categorize your expenses, check that you have included any income in your records, and have everything organized to answer your tax questions.
Conclusion
A mercantile statement is a bank statement that shows the financial transactions in a bank account. It can be used to help manage personal and business finances as it breaks down the details,s such as transactions and balances.
PDF statements provide a means of viewing and storing official records. However, the fixed layout of a PDF document can make extracting information for analysis challenging. For example, viewing and summarizing multiple months of transactions is difficult when data is presented in a PDF instead of a spreadsheet that can be manipulated and totaled
Mercantile statements can be converted to either Excel or CSV format, ts which allows for easier manipulation of financial data. With StatementConverter.org, users can convert PDF statements to Excel by uploading their PDF statement and then later downloading the Excel file that contains their transactions.
Although converted spreadsheets can be used to assist in analysis and financial planning, it is a good practice to keep original PDF statements to support and substantiate your records and to retain all financial records in a secure manner.