Reading a bank statement (Kontoauszug)
Buchungstag, Wertstellung, Verwendungszweck — what the cryptic columns mean.
Buchungstag (booking date) is when the bank processed the transaction; Wertstellung (value date) is when it affects your interest. They usually match, but around weekends they drift apart.
The Verwendungszweck (payment reference) is free text from the sender — this is where the useful information hides: invoice numbers, mandate references, subscription names.
A Mandatsreferenz plus Gläubiger-ID identifies a direct-debit contract. The same pair appearing monthly is a subscription — exactly the pattern Pinke uses to detect recurring charges.
Export statements as CSV rather than PDF when you can: CSV keeps every column, and importing it takes seconds.