Guide · Analysis
How to Analyze a Bank Statement
Seven steps to extract everything that matters from a bank PDF, without becoming an accountant.
A bank statement, at first glance, is a tiring list. Looking at 80 lines of Pix, debit, and card transactions without order is the quickest way to close the app and ignore the problem. This guide transforms that list into a diagnosis in seven steps.
Step 1: Export the Closed Month PDF
Do not start from the app screen. The screen scrolls, distracts, and mixes the current month with the previous month. You need the closed month in a stable format, the PDF.
Step 2: Check Opening and Closing Balances
The first question is: did you end the month with more or less money than you started? Final balance minus opening balance = net flow. If positive, you saved. If negative, you lacked. This number is your baseline.
Step 3: Separate Income and Expenses
Next, classify each line into one of two piles. Salary, freelance, refund, received transfer, Pix refund → income. Everything else → expense.
Important tip: internal transfer (between your own accounts) does not count as either. It is a technical movement.
Step 4: Group Expenses by Category
This is where manual work hurts the most. Each expense needs to become one of the 5-7 categories. Use the broadest possible in the first month, super specific categories only work after you have a macro view.
| Category | Types of Transactions |
|---|---|
| Housing | Rent, condo, energy, water, internet |
| Food | Market, bakery, delivery, restaurant |
| Transportation | Uber, fuel, parking |
| Leisure | Bar, cinema, travel, gift |
| Debts | Loan, card (installment), overdraft |
| Subscriptions | Streaming, app, gym, antivirus |
| Others | Health, education, unforeseen |
Step 5: Identify Recurrences
One subscription hunts another. When you mark all recurrences (monthly Pix, automatic debit, same store on close dates), the skeleton of your month appears. The expenses that repeat are the easiest to cut, because they happen automatically and were rarely decided recently.
Step 6: Find Bank Fees
Use Ctrl+F on the PDF and search for "fee", "annual fee", "maintenance", "TED", "DOC". In 2026, there are still banks charging monthly maintenance for checking accounts. If you are paying, consider digital accounts without fees, the annual gain ranges from R$ 200 to R$ 600.
Step 7: Compare with the Previous Month
Analyzing a single month has limited value. Comparing two months turns data into a pattern. Repeat steps 3-6 with the previous month and answer: what changed? In which category? Why?
Analyze My Statement in 2 MinutesMonse automatically performs the 7 steps from the bank PDF.