Tax season for 1099 earners starts with 12 months of bank statements. LedgerLens categorizes them, separates business from personal, and exports a Schedule C–ready CSV — no bank login required. Upload all your accounts, auto-categorize deductions, and have a clean export ready for your accountant in under an hour. Start free at ledgerlens.com.
What is the statement-first method?
The statement-first method means downloading your PDF or CSV bank statements directly from your bank's website — no third-party aggregator, no bank login sharing — and uploading them to LedgerLens. AI categorizes every transaction by merchant and type. You review, adjust, and export. It's the privacy-first alternative to apps that require Plaid or Finicity access.
How do I upload 12 months of statements?
Go to your bank's website, download each month's statement as a PDF or CSV export, and upload them to LedgerLens. You can upload all 12 at once or one by one. LedgerLens deduplicates transactions across statements, so you don't need to worry about overlapping date ranges. Takes about 10 minutes for a full year.
How do I categorize deductions?
After upload, LedgerLens AI auto-categorizes every transaction by merchant, amount, and context. Review the output in the dashboard: flag business expenses, adjust any miscategorized items, and bulk-mark entire merchants as always-business (useful for recurring software subscriptions, home-office internet, etc.). Uncategorized items are surfaced for manual review — you'll typically have very few.
How do I export for Schedule C?
Once categorized, use the export function to download a business-only CSV. The export includes transaction date, merchant, amount, and category — the exact columns your accountant or tax software needs for Schedule C. CSV export is available on Plus ($12/month) and above.
How much does LedgerLens cost?
Starter is free — upload statements and review categorized transactions at no cost. Plus is $12/month ($120/year) and unlocks CSV/Excel export, which you need to hand a clean file to your accountant. Pro is $19/month ($190/year) for advanced reporting. Business is $39/month for bookkeepers handling multiple clients.
Does LedgerLens require a bank login?
No. LedgerLens is entirely statement-based. You download PDF or CSV files from your bank's website and upload them. Your banking credentials never leave your bank — no Plaid, no Finicity, no OAuth connections. This is the direct differentiator for 1099 earners who want tax prep without credential risk. See our full freelancer expense tracking guide for the full privacy argument.
What formats does LedgerLens accept?
LedgerLens accepts PDF bank statements and CSV exports from US and Canadian banks. Most major banks (Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Capital One, Amex, Citi, PNC, USAA, Schwab) are supported. See bank-specific guides for 60+ institutions.
Start tax prep: Upload your statements to LedgerLens and get your 1099 deductions categorized before the deadline. Free tier, no card required.