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Regarding the bookkeeping thing (this happens to be my specialty): with the prerequisite knowledge (how websites work and basic Python or JavaScript), you could

by franga2000 5y ago

Regarding the bookkeeping thing (this happens to be my specialty): with the prerequisite knowledge (how websites work and basic Python or JavaScript), you could have that automated in a weekend. You don't even have to deal with authentication - if you don't run it often, you can just log in manually, then run the script to collect data. Alternatively, try calling you bank and asking you can get the statements emailed to you automatically. Most banks offer this in one way or another, although you usually get PDFs so some programming might still be necessary to transform the data.

WalterBright 5y ago
I actually did write a program to deal with Paypal. I used it once a year to process the Paypal information. Which worked fine, until Paylap changed the data format, so I had to recode the program. Then next year they changed the format. I had to recode the program. Then next year they changed the format. I had to recode the program. See where this is going? Spending a weekend automating a program that you use only once, and have to recode every year, does not work. Also, quicken cannot import PDFs. As for getting the statements via email - it's just as much work getting them one by one out of my email and into the proper place in my accounts. What I want: Download in one operation ALL the data in one zip file. Now that would save me significant time. I've never had an account that allowed this. They're all different, but all about 20 minutes or so of clickety-clickety-clickety. BTW, at least they finally stopped downloading each statement with the same file name (named "download.pdf", naturally). So I had to rename it as an additional step for each statement. It lead me to wonder didn't anyone who worked at that bank on the web site have an account at the bank?
- WalterBright 5y ago
  BTW, I have submitted suggestions to these banks on making this easy. They're all nice and polite, but they act astonished that anyone would want to download all the last tax year's information. But nothing ever changed, so I stopped bothering them with suggestions.
- joshspankit 5y ago
  I can’t remember the acronym right now (and am too lazy to search through my scripts to find it), but there is an older banking standard that can be used to download transactions. Some regular banks support it, you can use your existing credentials, and there are Node.js libraries for it. Downside is the metadata is lean. I think there’s a ~10char limit on the description? Like you get “2021-11-01 14:35, LONGNAMECO, $500” and that’s it. Don’t quote me.

WalterBright 5y ago

I actually did write a program to deal with Paypal. I used it once a year to process the Paypal information. Which worked fine, until Paylap changed the data format, so I had to recode the program. Then next year they changed the format. I had to recode the program. Then next year they changed the format. I had to recode the program. See where this is going? Spending a weekend automating a program that you use only once, and have to recode every year, does not work. Also, quicken cannot import PDFs. As for getting the statements via email - it's just as much work getting them one by one out of my email and into the proper place in my accounts. What I want: Download in one operation ALL the data in one zip file. Now that would save me significant time. I've never had an account that allowed this. They're all different, but all about 20 minutes or so of clickety-clickety-clickety. BTW, at least they finally stopped downloading each statement with the same file name (named "download.pdf", naturally). So I had to rename it as an additional step for each statement. It lead me to wonder didn't anyone who worked at that bank on the web site have an account at the bank?

WalterBright 5y ago
BTW, I have submitted suggestions to these banks on making this easy. They're all nice and polite, but they act astonished that anyone would want to download all the last tax year's information. But nothing ever changed, so I stopped bothering them with suggestions.
joshspankit 5y ago
I can’t remember the acronym right now (and am too lazy to search through my scripts to find it), but there is an older banking standard that can be used to download transactions. Some regular banks support it, you can use your existing credentials, and there are Node.js libraries for it. Downside is the metadata is lean. I think there’s a ~10char limit on the description? Like you get “2021-11-01 14:35, LONGNAMECO, $500” and that’s it. Don’t quote me.