How to download your PayPal statement as a PDF
On the PayPal website, go to paypal.com/reports/accountStatements, click "Request" next to the month you need, and click "Download" when the statement is ready. For other reports, open your transaction history, click the Download icon, choose "Custom" and follow the prompts. PayPal Credit card statements are separate: click the PayPal Credit card tile on the home page, then "Statements", pick the month and click "Get billing statement" to download the PDF.
Can PayPal export Excel or CSV directly?
PayPal's activity download covers up to the past seven years, but each request can include at most 12 months of activity. PayPal's help lists PDF, Quicken, QuickBooks, CSV and TAB files; its reporting docs say the QuickBooks file is IIF (US accounts only) and the Quicken file is QIF (USD only). CSV and TAB files over 50,000 records are split into a ZIP. Large downloads can take up to 5 business days, and PayPal emails you when the file is ready. The running balance field is in the CSV but not in the activity PDF, so for a balance-checked conversion use the monthly statement, which shows beginning and ending balances.
What a PayPal statement looks like
PayPal's reporting documentation, written for business accounts, says the statement PDF moves from summary to detail. "Balance summary" shows, for each currency you hold, Available beginning, Available ending, Withheld beginning and Withheld ending; your total balance is available plus withheld. "Activity summary" totals debits and credits by category, such as Payments received, Payments sent, Fees and Transfers (currency conversions). "Transaction history" lists each transaction per currency with Date, Description (including the transaction ID), Name / Email, Gross, Fee and Net. The documented columns include no running balance, and for US accounts the PDF leaves out the transaction list if the period has more than 10,000 transactions.
Tips for converting PayPal statements
PayPal's reporting docs say monthly statements are ready any time after the 2nd of the month, the reporting portal keeps up to 2 years of them, and custom statements can cover any period within the last 3 years. Statements list only transactions that affect your balance, with separate balances and transactions for each currency you hold.
What you get
- Excel with real dates and numbers you can sort, filter and total, plus a summary sheet.
- QuickBooks: a .qbo Web Connect file or the 3-column CSV for bank uploads. See PDF to QBO.
- Xero CSV, OFX/QFX for Quicken and other tools, or plain CSV.
- A reconciliation check: opening balance + money in − money out = closing balance.
Converting a lot of statements every month? Plans start at $9/month for 500 pages.