SAF-T (PT) Guide: How to Use Bank Statements for Accounting Reconciliation in Portugal
The SAF-T (PT) file is mandatory for every Portuguese company with organised accounting. This guide explains how bank statements converted to Excel streamline reconciliation against the SAF-T data and speed up an accountant's monthly workload.
What is SAF-T (PT)?
The Standard Audit File for Tax Purposes (SAF-T, PT variant) is a standardised XML file that Portuguese companies must submit monthly to the tax authority (Autoridade Tributária, AT). It contains information about invoicing, payments, receipts and accounting entries.
Why Bank Statements Are Essential for SAF-T
Bank reconciliation is the process of matching transactions recorded in the accounting books (and reflected in the SAF-T) with the actual movements on the bank account. This process lets you:
- Catch posting errors — wrong amounts, duplicates or missing entries
- Spot untracked movements — bank fees, interest, internal transfers
- Validate the closing balance — confirm that the book balance matches the real bank balance
- Prepare for audits — evidence the reconciliation for statutory auditors
The Problem: PDF Bank Statements
Most Portuguese banks — CGD, Millennium BCP, Santander, Novo Banco, BPI — deliver statements as PDFs. PDFs are great for reading but terrible for importing into accounting software.
Accountants end up manually copying hundreds of rows from the PDF into Excel, a workflow that costs:
per month on manual entry
transcription error rate
monthly cost in wasted time
The Solution: Convert PDF to Excel Automatically
With Bank2PDF, you convert a bank statement in under 10 seconds:
- Download the statement from your online banking (CGD, BCP, Santander, etc.)
- Upload it to Bank2PDF — the bank is detected automatically
- Download the Excel with clean columns: date, description, debit, credit, balance
- Import into your accounting software (PHC, Primavera, Sage, TOC Online)
Step by Step: Bank Reconciliation with SAF-T
Export the SAF-T file from your accounting software
In PHC, Primavera or Sage, export the SAF-T (PT) file for the period you want to review. This file contains every accounting entry posted in the books.
Convert the bank statements with Bank2PDF
Download each bank account's statement and convert them to Excel. Bank2PDF supports every Portuguese bank and handles multi-page statements.
Match bank movements to accounting entries
Compare the Excel bank movements with the entries posted to the Class 12 accounts (Demand Deposits) in the SAF-T. Flag any differences in amount, date or description.
Adjust differences and validate balances
Post the missing movements (fees, interest, etc.), correct any errors, and confirm that the final book balance equals the real bank balance.
Compatibility with Portuguese Software
The Excel files produced by Bank2PDF work with every major accounting package used in Portugal:
PHC (Cegid)
Import via "Utilities > Bank Transaction Import". Use the CSV format with a semicolon separator.
Primavera
Use the Treasury module > "Import Movements". The Bank2PDF Excel is directly compatible.
Sage
Import via "Banks > Import Statement". It accepts both Excel and CSV files produced by Bank2PDF.
TOC Online
Under "Accounting > Bank Entries", use the file import. Convert the Excel to CSV if required.
Legal Requirements: What the Law Says
Under Portaria no. 321-A/2007 (as updated by Portaria no. 302/2016), every company with organised accounting must:
- Submit the monthly SAF-T (PT) file to the tax authority by the 20th of the following month
- Keep supporting documentation for every accounting entry
- Retain these files for 10 years (Article 123 of the Portuguese Corporate Income Tax Code, CIRC)
Converted and organised bank statements serve as supporting documentation for the movements posted to the bank accounts in the SAF-T.
Save Hours on Bank Reconciliation
Convert statements from any Portuguese bank to Excel in seconds. Try it for free.
Try Bank2PDF