Does Cash Workspace pull my statements from the bank?

No. You download each statement from your bank yourself and attach it to the folder. There is no bank link of any kind — Cash Workspace is simply a place to file the PDFs you save.

How should I name the files?

Use a consistent pattern like 2026-03-business-checking.pdf so statements sort by date and account, making any month easy to find.

How long should I keep statements?

Keep prior fiscal years in their own folders for as long as your accountant advises. Because bank portals often hold only a limited window, filing each month as it arrives means you never lose one.

Cash Workspace

Use the Freelancer template

Freelance finance · Document folders

A tidy folder for your downloaded bank statements

Your accountant will eventually ask for your bank and card statements, and scrambling to download twelve months of PDFs the night before is no fun. Cash Workspace has no link to your bank — you download each statement yourself — but it gives you a clean fiscal-year folder to file every month's PDF the moment you save it, so the full set is always one click from being handed over. This is manual filing only: you do the downloading, and the workspace simply holds the documents.

Start a free workspace Set up fiscal-year folders

The problem

Why statements go missing at handoff

Statements sit in your bank's portal or your downloads folder until you need them, then you're stuck re-downloading the whole year.

You download statements one at a time only when asked, and some months get skipped.
PDFs pile up in your Downloads folder with names like "estatement(3).pdf".
You have a business account and a separate card, and their statements get mixed up.
At year-end you realize three months are missing and the portal only keeps so many.
Your accountant asks for January's statement and you can't quickly tell if you have it.

The workflow

File each statement the month it arrives

A small monthly habit keeps the whole year complete and ready to hand over.

1
Download the statement
Each month, download the PDF for every account and card you use for business.
2
Name it consistently
Rename to a clear pattern like 2026-03-business-checking.pdf before filing.
3
File it in the year folder
Attach the PDF into the current fiscal-year statements folder, in month order.
4
Keep accounts separate
Use a sub-area per account so the business checking and the card never get muddled.
5
Check the set is complete
At quarter-end, glance down the folder to confirm no month is missing.

Record structure

What to capture for each statement

A short, consistent set of details makes any month's statement instantly findable.

Account: Which account or card the statement is for, kept distinct from the others.
Statement period: The month and year the statement covers.
Fiscal year: The fiscal year folder it belongs in, so the full set groups together.
File name: A consistent name like 2026-03-business-checking.pdf so files sort in order.
Statement PDF: The downloaded PDF itself, attached as the document of record.
Date filed: When you saved it, so you can see how current the folder is.
Note: Anything unusual, e.g. a replacement statement or a closed account.

Example setup

An example statement folder

One way to structure statements by year and account in your workspace.

2026 — Business checking

Twelve monthly PDFs, named in order, one per month.

2026 — Business card

Each month's card statement PDF, kept separate from the checking account.

Prior years

Closed fiscal-year folders kept for reference and any later request.

Common mistakes

Mistakes to avoid

Downloading statements only when asked, by which point some are gone from the portal.
Leaving PDFs with default names so you can't tell which month is which.
Mixing checking and card statements in one undivided pile.
Filing some months but not others, so the year is incomplete at handoff.
Assuming the bank keeps statements forever — many portals only hold a limited window.

How it helps

How Cash Workspace helps

Fiscal-year folders

Keep each year's statements together so the full set is ready to hand over in one place.

Attach the PDFs

File each downloaded statement as an attached document, named your way, in month order.

Separate by account

Use a sub-area per account or card so the records never get muddled.

Fiscal-year folder setup

Set up the yearly folders statements live in.

Business banking documents

File account agreements and banking paperwork too.

File naming convention

Name statement PDFs consistently so they sort cleanly.

Accountant handoff folder

Hand over the full statement set at year-end.

All finance workflows

Browse the full Cash Workspace workflow library.

FAQ

Bank statement folder FAQ

Does Cash Workspace pull my statements from the bank?: No. You download each statement from your bank yourself and attach it to the folder. There is no bank link of any kind — Cash Workspace is simply a place to file the PDFs you save.
How should I name the files?: Use a consistent pattern like 2026-03-business-checking.pdf so statements sort by date and account, making any month easy to find.
How long should I keep statements?: Keep prior fiscal years in their own folders for as long as your accountant advises. Because bank portals often hold only a limited window, filing each month as it arrives means you never lose one.

Organizing help — not tax, accounting, or legal guidance

Cash Workspace is a free workspace for organizing invoices, expenses, receipts, clients, and documents. This page is organizing guidance only — not tax, accounting, legal, or bookkeeping guidance. Cash Workspace does not connect to your bank, does not scan or read your receipts for you, and does not move or collect payments. Whether an expense is deductible depends on your situation, so confirm it with a qualified accountant or tax professional.

Keep every statement filed by month

Start a free workspace and file each downloaded statement in its fiscal-year folder as it arrives, so the full set is always ready to hand over.