Estate Accounting From Bank Statements: Executor Guide

TL;DR As an executor or administrator, you'll usually need to account for the money that came into and went out of the estate. Collect statements for every account the person held (from before the date of death through to closing), plus any estate account you open. Convert them into one spreadsheet, check every statement balances, tag transfers between accounts, and categorize receipts and payments: asset sales, debts paid, funeral costs, professional fees, taxes and distributions to beneficiaries. Keep the original statements and receipts. Rules differ by country and state, so follow your lawyer's or the court's guidance on the format of any formal account.

Being an executor is often unexpected work, done while grieving, for a family that wants things handled fairly. A big part of it is financial record-keeping: showing what the person owned at death, what came in, what was paid out, and what's left for the beneficiaries. Bank statements are at the centre of that record.

This guide explains a practical way to turn a pile of bank statements into a clear, checkable estate account. It focuses on the spreadsheet side: organizing, categorizing and checking. It isn't legal advice. Executor duties, required reports and deadlines vary a great deal between jurisdictions, and many estates involve a lawyer or a probate court. Use this alongside their guidance, not instead of it.

What an estate account usually needs to show

Formats differ, but most estate accounts answer the same questions:

1. What did the person own at the date of death? Bank balances, investments, property, other assets.
2. What came in afterwards? Interest, refunds, final wages or pension payments, proceeds from selling assets, insurance paid to the estate.
3. What went out? Funeral costs, debts, bills to keep property maintained, professional fees, taxes, and distributions to beneficiaries.
4. What's left, and who gets it?

Bank statements contribute to all four. The balance on the date of death is a starting figure. Transactions afterwards are the receipts and payments. The closing balance is what remains.

Step 1: Find every account

The first job is knowing what exists. Sources that help:

• Recent mail and email. Statements, annual summaries and notices.
• Tax documents. Interest statements and tax returns from prior years list accounts that paid interest.
• The person's own records. A filing cabinet, a desk drawer, a password manager or a notebook.
• Bank transfers. Statements from one account often show transfers to others you didn't know about.
• Direct debits and standing orders. Regular payments from an account can point to cards, loans or other accounts.

For each account, note the bank, the account type, the last few digits of the number, whether it was in the person's sole name or joint, and any beneficiary or payable-on-death designation. Joint accounts and accounts with named beneficiaries may pass outside the estate, depending on local law and the account terms. Ask your lawyer how each should be treated before you include them.

Step 2: Get the right statements

For each account in the estate, request:

• The statement covering the date of death, so you can see the balance on that day.
• Every statement from the date of death until the account is closed or transferred.
• A few months before the date of death, which helps identify regular payments that need stopping and income that will keep arriving.

Banks usually have a bereavement or estate services team that handles requests from executors. They'll typically ask for proof of death and proof of your authority to act, such as a grant of probate or letters testamentary, depending on where you are. Some banks will also provide a balance certificate or letter showing the balance at the date of death, which can be useful for valuation.

If you open an estate bank account to collect and pay money during administration (often recommended, so estate money isn't mixed with yours), get every statement for that account too. Our guide on how to get old bank statements covers requests for closed accounts.

Step 3: Convert the statements into one table

With PDFs or paper statements collected, get them into a spreadsheet. A table with these columns works well:

Scanned paper statements and PDFs both need converting. SheetStatement's bank statement to Excel converter reads both, produces one row per transaction, and checks each statement's transactions against its opening and closing balances. Our explainer on converting scanned bank statements covers older paper statements specifically. The free plan covers 3 pages a month; for an estate with many accounts and months, a paid plan at $9, $19 or $39 a month for the period you need it may be simpler.

Check every statement

For each statement: opening balance + sum of transactions = closing balance. If it doesn't balance, something is missing or misread. Fix it before going further. In an estate account, a missing transaction isn't just an inconvenience: beneficiaries may ask where money went, and you want to be able to show every dollar.

The balance checker does the arithmetic for you.

Step 4: Mark the date of death

Add a column that marks each transaction as before or after the date of death. This matters because:

• Transactions before the date of death are part of the person's own financial history, not estate administration.
• The balance at the date of death is the starting value of each account for the estate.
• Payments that arrive after death, such as pension or benefit payments, may need to be returned if the person was no longer entitled to them.

A simple formula, with the date of death in a named cell DOD:

=IF([@Date] <= DOD, "Before", "After")

Some jurisdictions and some transactions need closer attention to timing (for example, interest that accrued before death but was paid after). Flag them in the Notes column and ask your lawyer or accountant.

Step 5: Categorize receipts and payments

A category list for estate administration, to adapt with your lawyer:

Receipts

• Balance at date of death (opening figure, not a transaction)
• Interest after death
• Refunds (utilities, insurance, subscriptions cancelled)
• Final wages, pension or benefit payments
• Proceeds from sale of assets
• Insurance or other payments to the estate

Payments

• Funeral and related costs
• Debts of the deceased (credit cards, loans, medical bills, utilities)
• Property costs during administration (insurance, maintenance, utilities)
• Professional fees (legal, accounting, valuation)
• Court and probate fees
• Taxes
• Executor expenses reimbursed (with receipts)
• Distributions to beneficiaries

Other

• Transfers between estate accounts
• Payments to be returned (such as benefits paid after death)

Tag transfers first. When the checking account's balance is moved into the estate account, it appears as money out of one and money into the other. Both sides should be tagged as transfers so they don't count as receipts or payments.

Then work through the rest. For each payment, note the supporting document: an invoice, a receipt, a court fee notice. Many executors keep a numbered folder of documents and write the folder or document number in the Notes column.

Step 6: Summarize

A summary sheet turns the table into something beneficiaries and advisers can read. A simple structure:

These figures are illustrative only. Use SUMIFS on your table to build each line, so the summary updates when you add statements:

=SUMIFS(Tx[Amount], Tx[Category], "Funeral costs", Tx[Period], "After")

Tie it out

The final line, "balance held", must equal the actual balance in the estate's accounts according to their latest statements. If it doesn't, something is missing, miscategorized or counted twice. The usual suspects are a transfer tagged on only one side, or an account that's been left out.

Our guide to finding bank reconciliation discrepancies has a systematic approach for tracking down differences.

Bank statements aren't the whole estate

Bank accounts are only part of most estates. Property, investments, vehicles, personal possessions and debts that weren't paid through the bank all need recording separately. The spreadsheet approach works for those too: add a sheet for assets with their value at the date of death and what happened to them, and a sheet for liabilities. The bank table then shows the cash side of selling assets and paying liabilities.

Sharing the account with beneficiaries

Beneficiaries usually want to know two things: what happened to the money, and when they'll receive their share. A good spreadsheet answers the first question without you having to explain every line in person.

Some practical points:

• Give a summary first. Most people don't want two hundred rows of transactions. The one-page summary, with opening balances, receipts, payments by category and the balance held, answers most questions.
• Offer the detail on request. Keep the full transaction table ready to share as a PDF or a view-only copy. Remove full account numbers and anything else that doesn't need to be shared.
• Explain estimates and holdbacks. If you're keeping money back for taxes, final bills or professional fees not yet invoiced, list those as a separate line with a short explanation. Unexplained gaps between the balance held and what beneficiaries receive are a common source of friction.
• Date every version. If you share updates during administration, put the date on the summary and keep a copy of each version you send. If someone later compares two versions, you'll be able to show what changed and why.
• Follow your lawyer's lead on formal accounts. Some jurisdictions or wills require a formal account in a specific format, sometimes approved by beneficiaries or filed with a court. Your spreadsheet becomes the working file behind that document rather than a replacement for it.

Being open and organized tends to prevent disputes rather than just resolve them. When everyone can see that every payment has a reason and a receipt, there's much less to argue about.

Things that commonly need extra care

Joint accounts. Depending on the account and the law where you are, a joint account may pass directly to the surviving holder. Ask before treating it as an estate asset.

Payments after death. Pensions, benefits and some salaries may continue for a short time and later need to be repaid. Keep them separate until you know.

Direct debits. Regular payments that continue after death should usually be stopped. The statements before death show what was set up; work through them and notify each payee.

Executor's own expenses. If you pay estate costs yourself and get reimbursed, keep receipts and record both the original payment and the reimbursement. Don't mix estate money with your own if you can avoid it.

Taxes. Income earned by the estate during administration, and taxes owed by the deceased, may have filing requirements. An accountant familiar with estates in your jurisdiction is worth consulting. Our general guide to bank statements for tax preparation covers the record-keeping side.

Disagreements between beneficiaries. A clear, checkable record is your best protection. Being able to show every transaction, with its supporting document, makes questions easy to answer.

A worked example

An executor is handling her late uncle's estate. He had a checking account, a savings account and one credit card. She opened an estate account after receiving authority to act.

1. Request statements. The bank's bereavement team provided statements for the three months before death through closure for checking and savings, plus a balance letter at the date of death. The card issuer provided the final statements.
2. Convert and check. Fourteen statements in total. All balance once a scanned page with a faint line is corrected by hand.
3. Mark before and after. A Period column splits the transactions at the date of death.
4. Categorize. After death: a final pension payment (flagged as possibly repayable), a utility refund, interest, the funeral home, the card balance paid off, a plumber for the empty house, legal fees, transfers from checking and savings to the estate account.
5. Summarize. The summary shows opening balances, receipts, payments by category and the balance held.
6. Tie out. The balance held equals the estate account's latest statement balance.
7. Share. The lawyer gets the workbook and the document folder. Beneficiaries get the summary, with the detail available on request.

When one beneficiary asked about a payment of a few hundred dollars, the executor found it in the table, pointed to the plumber's invoice and answered the question in a single email.

Keep it tidy as you go

Estate administration can take months, sometimes longer. A few habits make the final account easy:

• Add each new statement to the table as soon as it arrives, and check it balances.
• Categorize at the same time, while you remember what each payment was.
• File the supporting document immediately and note its reference.
• Update the summary monthly and check the balance held against the bank.

Our month-end close checklist is written for businesses, but its rhythm (collect, convert, check, categorize, reconcile) works for an estate too.

Get the statements into a spreadsheet

Upload the statements to SheetStatement, confirm each one balances, and download Excel. You can then build the table, categories and summary described above. The free plan lets you try it on a few pages before deciding whether you need more.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Executor duties and required accounts vary by jurisdiction; follow the guidance of your lawyer, accountant or the relevant court.

FAQ

Which bank statements does an executor need?

Usually the statement covering the date of death and every statement from then until each account is closed or transferred, plus statements for any estate account you open. A few months before death help identify regular payments and income.

How do I get a deceased person's bank statements?

Contact the bank's bereavement or estate services team. They'll typically ask for proof of death and proof of your authority to act, such as probate or letters testamentary, depending on where you are.

Do I need a separate estate bank account?

It's commonly recommended so estate money isn't mixed with your own, and it makes the record much clearer. Ask your lawyer about the requirements where you are.

How should I categorize estate transactions?

Separate receipts (interest, refunds, asset sales) from payments (funeral costs, debts, fees, taxes, distributions), and tag transfers between estate accounts so they aren't counted twice.

How do I prove the estate account is complete?

Check each statement balances, then confirm the summary's balance held equals the latest statement balance of the estate's accounts.

Are joint accounts part of the estate?

It depends on the account terms and local law. Joint accounts often pass to the surviving holder, but ask your lawyer before deciding how to treat them.