BankLift as an alternative to manual data entry
The most-used "tool" for bank statements is still typing them out by hand, line by line. It works, but it costs time and slips in errors — transposed digits, a skipped row — that nobody catches until reconciliation. BankLift reads the statement for you, checks the balances, and produces the file your software imports. This page compares the two honestly.
The short answer
Manual entry is fine if…
- You have a single short statement, very rarely.
- The bank or layout is not supported yet — tell us and we will add it.
Choose BankLift if…
- You process statements regularly, across several clients.
- You have scanned or photographed statements you would otherwise retype by hand.
- You want the import file (MT940, e-Factura, 1C), not just the numbers in a table.
- You want a reconcile check that flags statements whose balances do not add up, before they go into the books.
Comparison
| Manual entry | BankLift | |
|---|---|---|
| Time per statement | Minutes to hours depending on length | Seconds to a minute |
| Errors (transposed digits, skipped rows) | Common and easy to miss | Reconcile flags statements that do not add up |
| Scanned or photographed statements | The same slow retype | Read automatically |
| Import file (MT940 / 1C / e-Factura) | You build it by hand | Produced automatically |
| Consistency across many clients | Varies from person to person | The same output format every time |
| Cost | Your time | Excel and CSV free; accounting formats paid per file |
Frequently asked questions
- Is it really faster than typing?
- For long or scanned statements, almost always: a machine reads a page faster than you can retype it. And the reconcile check catches balance mismatches that manual typing gives you no automatic warning about.
- What if a number is wrong?
- Conversion can make mistakes, like any automated extraction. That is why the reconcile check flags statements whose balances do not add up, and you confirm the data before export — the same way you would check manual entry.
- Which banks does it cover?
- Banks in Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine, including scanned statements. The list is on the supported-banks page.