Convert Chase credit card statements from PDF to CSV. Useful for importing old transactions into QuickBooks Online/Self-Employed.

chasepdf2csv

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
# chasepdf2csv -- Convert Chase credit card statements from PDF to CSV. Written
# to easily import older statements into QuickBooks Online/Self-Employed. Chase
# unfortunately only offers statements up to 6 months in the past, making it a
# huge chore to synchronize past transactions.
#
# How to Use
# ----------
# This script requires Ruby >2.0.0 and pdftotext. Copy this script somewhere and
# make it executable. Run it like any other command.
#
# ISC License
# -----------
# Copyright (c) 2018-2020 Ivy Evans <ivy@ivyevans.net>
#
# Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
# purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
# copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH
# REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
# AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT,
# INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM
# LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR
# OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
# PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

require 'csv'
require 'optparse'

def error(msg)
  STDERR.puts("error: #{msg}")
end

def fatal(msg)
  error(msg)
  exit 1
end

class Statement
  DUE_DATE_PATTERN = %r{
    Payment\s+Due\s+Date:?
    \s+
    (?<month>\d{2})/(?<day>\d{2})/(?<year>\d{2})
  }x

  class Transaction
    # Regex for matching transactions in a Chase credit statement.
    #
    # Edge Case: Amazon orders
    #
    #   01/23 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS AMZN.COM/BILL WA 12.34\n
    #   Order Number 123-4567890-1234567\n
    #
    # Edge Case: Rewards points
    #
    #   01/23 AMAZON MARKETPLACE AMZN.COM/BILLWA 4.56 7,890
    #
    LINE_ITEM_PATTERN = %r{
      (?<date>\d{2}/\d{2})
      \s+
      (?<description>.+)
      \s+
      (?<amount>-?[\d,]+\.\d{2})
      (
        [ ]
        (?<points>[1-9][\d,]+)?
        |
        \s*
        Order\s+Number\s+
        (?<order_num>[^\s]+)
      )?
    }x

    def self.scan(output, year)
      output.to_enum(:scan, LINE_ITEM_PATTERN).collect {
        Transaction.new(Regexp.last_match, year)
      }
    end

    def initialize(data, year)
      @date = data[:date]+"/#{year}"
      @description = data[:description]
      @amount = data[:amount]
      @points = data[:points]
      @order_num = data[:order_num]
    end

    attr_reader :date, :amount, :points, :order_num
    alias rewards? points
    alias order_num? order_num

    def description
      order_num? ? "#{@description} ##{order_num}" : @description
    end

    def to_hash
      {
        date: date,
        description: description,
        amount: amount,
        points: points,
        order_num: order_num,
      }
    end
    alias to_h to_hash
  end

  attr_reader :line_items

  def self.parse(path)
    output = `pdftotext -raw #{path} -`
    unless $?.success?
      fatal "pdftotext: failed to parse #{path} (exit code #{$?})"
    end

    unless m = output.match(DUE_DATE_PATTERN)
      fatal "parse error: could not match due date in #{path}"
    end

    new(Transaction.scan(output, m[:year]))
  end

  def initialize(line_items)
    @line_items = line_items
  end

  def each_line_item(&block)
    line_items.each(&block)
  end
end

def main(args = ARGV)
  unless system('command -v pdftotext >/dev/null 2>&1')
    fatal "error: pdftotext not found!"
  end

  outfile = STDOUT
  options = OptionParser.new do |opts|
    opts.banner = "Usage: #{$0} [options] FILE..."

    opts.on('-o', '--output=FILE', 'Output to file') do |path|
      outfile = File.open(path, 'w')
    end
    opts.on('-h', '--help', 'Show this message') do
      puts opts
      exit
    end
  end
  options.parse!(args)

  if ARGV.empty?
    fatal "error: no files specified"
    exit 1
  end

  csv = CSV.new(
    outfile, headers: %w[Date Description Amount], write_headers: true,
  )

  ARGV.each do |file|
    Statement.parse(file).each_line_item do |line_item|
      next if line_item.rewards?
      csv << [
        line_item.date, line_item.description, line_item.amount
      ]
    end
  end
end

if $0 == __FILE__
  main
end

So on a whim I asked ChatGPT to convert this to Python… and it did and it works! Here it is linked if anyone wants to use it:

https://gist.github.com/Enquier/241401089eccd257b8e6f0002b962e8f

I was about to use this script, but Chase already has a feature where you can download transactions directly into other formats without the need to use a script.

1. On your accounts overview, scroll down to the Account activity section.

2. Underneath the section header, click the Download account activity icon all the way to the right
   

3. Select the filters you want to apply:

   • Account: Which Chase account you want. Seems to only let you select a single account at a time.
   • File type: Which file extension you want. Supports CSV, QFX, QIF, and QBO.
   • Activity: Which transactions you want to export. Defaults to the filters set before the Download account activity icon was clicked. Can download all transaction, filter by statement, or specify a custom date range.
     

Chase also has a standard API (for support in things like Plaid or Mint) and it may be worth registering for a developer account to create an API-based utility so that others don't need to have Ruby installed to take advantage of this utility.

FYI: The Account Activity download seems to use https://secure07b.chase.com/svc/rr/accounts/secure/v2/account/activity/card/download as the URL and you can probably use Postman to figure how to send the right payload to do all the things you want.

Unfortunately, this method only allows up to 24 months or ~1500 transactions max. If you need 7 years of transactions, which Chase keeps, they tell you to download the PDF statements.