Not every converter understands bank statements
Bank statements are structured but tricky: running balances, thousands separators, long descriptions, and multiple date formats. A good converter keeps the balance column intact, normalizes numbers, and exports in formats your accounting stack accepts.
We tested popular options to see how they handle German bank PDFs, including Sparkasse, VR Bank, Deutsche Bank, and Commerzbank layouts.
Selection criteria
- Accuracy on amounts, dates, and balances.
- Speed per page and batch handling.
- Export profiles (CSV, Excel, DATEV/Lexware).
- GDPR posture and data deletion.
- Pricing: one-off vs. subscription.
Tool comparison
KontoCSV
AI trained on 50+ German banks, exports to CSV/Excel and DATEV profiles.
~6 seconds/page, balance-aware, GDPR-first, 3 pages free then volume pricing from €0.06/page.
Adobe Acrobat Pro
Good OCR, but needs manual column cleanup and template tweaks per bank.
~2 minutes/page, €18/month subscription.
Online converters
Quick for simple PDFs but struggle with balances and EU date formats.
Free tiers, limited GDPR transparency.
OCR suites (ABBYY, etc.)
Powerful for scanned documents; requires templates and review.
~2 minutes/page, higher cost, admin overhead for templates.
Online converters
Great for quick tests but often export U.S. date formats, drop balance columns, or merge thousand separators incorrectly. Review GDPR details carefully; many services process outside the EU.
- ✅ Instant, no install.
- ❌ Limited control over number/date formats.
- ❌ Unknown storage and deletion policies.
OCR suites
OCR tools shine with scanned PDFs but require template maintenance. They extract text, not structure, so you still need to define columns and reconcile balances.
- ✅ Good for legacy scans.
- ❌ Templates per bank; brittle when layouts change.
- ❌ Balance detection often missing.
Where KontoCSV fits
KontoCSV is purpose-built for bank statements. It understands running balances, keeps EU date formats, and ships export profiles for DATEV, Lexware, and BuchhaltungsButler. Processing happens in the EU with automatic deletion.
Speed & quality
~6 seconds/page, pretrained on 50+ German bank layouts.
Export profiles
CSV, Excel, DATEV, Lexware, and BuchhaltungsButler out of the box.
Pricing
3 pages free, then flexible volume pricing: 5-50 pages at €0.12/page, 51-150 pages at €0.10/page, 151-300 pages at €0.08/page, 301-500 pages at €0.06/page. No subscription required.
Compliance
GDPR-first: EU processing, encryption, and auto-deletion.
Quick checklist
- Does the export include the balance column?
- Are dates and decimals in EU format (DD.MM.YYYY, comma separator)?
- Can you export to CSV/Excel and a DATEV/Lexware profile?
- Is processing done in the EU with automatic deletion?
- Is pricing transparent without a subscription lock-in?
Conclusion
If you process many statements or need consistent balances, a specialized converter beats generic OCR. KontoCSV is tuned for German banks, exports clean CSV/Excel, and respects GDPR by design.
Test it with three free pages. If your bank layout is missing, send us a sample and we will add it.