ING Germany Statement to Excel Converter

ING's own guide to keeping statements makes a point many people miss: in the view of the Federal Ministry of Finance, a printout of an electronic Kontoauszug is only a copy of the original. Anyone who has to keep statements should therefore not delete the digital document before the retention period ends.

The same applies to a spreadsheet. An Excel file made from the PDF — by hand or by FlowParse — is a working copy. Keep the PDFs from the Post-Box as the original, and use the converted, reconciled file for the bookkeeping, the tax return and the questions.

A Steuererklärung, an EÜR, a Nebenkostenabrechnung or a Kreditantrag usually needs a whole year, often from the Girokonto, the Extra-Konto and another bank. Smart Merge takes up to 100 ING PDFs and builds one workbook with every booking in date order, the source file on every row, and a check that each statement's new balance is the next one's old balance — so a missing Auszug shows up as a break.

Statements from DKB, Sparkasse, Deutsche Bank or Commerzbank can go into the same workbook, matched column by column.

German Steuerberater work mostly in DATEV, and freelancers and small businesses commonly use Lexware, lexoffice or sevDesk. All of them import bank movements from a file. FlowParse exports a CSV with booking date, Valuta, text and signed amount that fits a bank import, an Excel file for checking first, and a DATEV-ready layout for the Steuerberater.

Because the full booking text is kept — counterparty, IBAN, Verwendungszweck, Mandatsreferenz — each line can still be matched to its invoice after the import.

A Kontoauszug downloaded from the Post-Box carries real text — FlowParse reads it directly and every amount is what the bank printed. When the statements come from a client or a tenant, ask for those PDFs rather than screenshots of the banking app; a screenshot shows a list without the opening and closing balance, so nothing can be proved.

Upload each Auszug as one file so the proof can run from old to new balance, and for a year upload them together. Download them before an automatic cleanup — ING announces it a year ahead, which is plenty of time if someone reads the notice.

German formats come first: 1.234,56 is text in an English-locale spreadsheet, and 03.04. is easily read as March 4th. FlowParse reads figures and dates the German way and writes real numbers and dates. Second, the text: a SEPA-Lastschrift with Mandatsreferenz and Gläubiger-ID, or a card payment abroad with a currency amount, runs over several lines and, copied by hand, becomes several rows. FlowParse keeps one booking per row.

Third, two accounts in one folder: the Girokonto and the Extra-Konto statements look alike, and transfers between them appear on both. Smart Merge keeps the source and the account on every row, so an internal transfer is visible as one, not counted as income.

A landlord asks an applicant for three months of statements. The applicant sends three ING Kontoauszüge as PDFs from the Post-Box. The landlord wants to see regular income and whether a rent-sized payment goes out each month. The figures here are an illustration, not a real person's.

Uploaded together, the statements become one sheet in date order. Each is proved against its own balances — so nothing was removed — and each new balance matches the next old balance, so no month is missing. Sorting by amount shows the salary; filtering the text shows the current rent. Statements that had been edited would no longer add up to their printed balances, which is exactly what the proof would show.

Before you rely on converted ING statements, check four things. Coverage: every Auszug in the period, chained by balance — Smart Merge flags any break. Dates: the booking date is the one the balance follows; keep the Valuta for interest and for bookings at the year end.

The reconciled mark: every statement proved against its own balances before you use the totals. And keep the PDFs: a printout, or a spreadsheet, is only a copy of the electronic Kontoauszug — the original stays in your archive for as long as your retention period runs.

The Kontoauszug for the Girokonto is the main one, and statements for the Extra-Konto and other savings accounts have the same shape: bookings between an old and a new balance, which FlowParse turns into rows and proves. Business account statements convert the same way.

Securities statements, the Jahressteuerbescheinigung and the annual account summary for the tax return summarise rather than list movements. They are references, not inputs for a bank reconciliation. Keep them in the Post-Box archive; convert the Kontoauszüge.