How it works
How ProfitBooks turns a statement into finished books
Five steps, most of them automatic. This page walks through exactly what happens from the moment you drop a PDF to the moment you export a profit and loss.
Step by step
From PDF to P&L
- 1
Drop in a statement
Start with one bank or credit card statement: a PDF from your bank's website or a photo from your phone. No account to create first. The statement is held securely until you finish a 60-second signup (name, email code, password).
- 2
The AI reads it
It identifies the bank, the account, the statement period and every transaction. It also reads your business name off the statement and asks you to confirm it. Statements that cover several months are split into the right months.
- 3
Confirm your industry
Pick your industry from a short list (it suggests four based on your name and statement). That one answer builds a chart of accounts that matches how businesses like yours are supposed to be categorized, instead of a generic 80-account template.
- 4
Every transaction gets categorized
Each transaction gets a category and a confidence score. You choose the bar: finalize automatically above 95%, or review everything yourself. Transactions below the bar wait in a single Needs Review list. Answering takes two clicks, and your answer teaches the model.
- 5
Reports, exports, accountant
Your profit and loss is live from the first statement. On Full Books, every statement is reconciled and a balance sheet is prepared each month. Click any line to see the transactions behind it. Export CSV for your tax preparer, or invite them to log in for free. Drop more statements any time; the coverage map shows what is still missing.
Confidence, not guesswork
You decide how much to trust the AI.
One control: "Auto-finalize transactions over N%." Set it to 100% and you review everything. Set it to 90% and only the genuinely ambiguous ones reach you. Every correction you make raises the confidence on similar transactions next time.
- Confidence score on every transaction
- One Needs Review list, sorted by amount
- Two-click confirm, split, or flag for your accountant
- Bulk verify when you are sure
Credits
Pay only for what lands in your books.
Uploading, reading, AI predictions, reports and exports are free. A credit is spent only when a transaction is finalized. 100 free credits at signup, 10 free every day, and purchased credits never expire.
FAQ
Questions, answered
How long does the first run take?
Reading a statement takes seconds. A full categorization pass on a normal small business is three to four minutes. You can keep uploading while it runs.
What if the statement covers more than one account?
The AI imports the main account and tells you. Upload the other account's statement separately and it gets its own place on the coverage map.
What if I upload the same statement twice?
Duplicates are detected by account and period and skipped. Nothing is double-counted.
Do I need to know any accounting?
No. You confirm your business name, pick an industry, and answer a handful of yes or no questions about transactions the AI was unsure about. Debits, credits and the chart of accounts are handled for you.
Can I add transactions that are not on a statement?
Yes. Add a transaction or a journal entry by hand from the Reports screen, for things like owner contributions or depreciation your accountant asks for.
What happens when I run out of credits?
Nothing is lost. Uploads, reading and predictions keep working. Transactions simply wait in the review list until your free credits refresh (every 24 hours, 10 at a time) or you buy a bundle.
Start with the statement on your desk right now.
Create a free account, drop in a bank statement, and watch every transaction get categorized. 100 free credits to start, 10 more every day. No card required.
Takes about 90 seconds. No sales call, no onboarding fee, no contract.