Guide
Balance brought forward and carried forward, explained
Those lines at the top and bottom of each page aren’t transactions. They are the joins between pages, and they tell you whether anything is missing.
What they mean
Balance carried forward (often “C/F”) appears at the end of a page or statement: the balance at that point, carried on to what comes next.
Balance brought forward (often “B/F” or “BFWD”) appears at the start of the next page or statement: the same balance, brought in from before.
They are not money in or out. A converter that treats them as transactions will double-count the balance, which is why StatementToCSV recognises and skips them, after using them to check the page joins.
How to use them to check a statement
- Note each carried-forward figureAt the bottom of each page, note the carried-forward balance.
- Compare with the next brought-forwardAt the top of the next page, the brought-forward balance should be identical.
- Investigate any differenceIf they differ, a page is probably missing between them; the difference is that page’s net total.
- Do the same between statementsThe first statement’s closing (carried-forward) balance should equal the next statement’s opening (brought-forward) balance.
Not every statement prints these lines. Where they’re missing, the running balance on each row does the same job: see spotting missing pages.
In bookkeeping
The same terms are used in bookkeeping, where balances on ledger accounts are carried forward at the end of a period and brought forward at the start of the next. The idea is the same: the closing figure of one period is the opening figure of the next, and the two must agree.
An example
Page 1 ends: Balance carried forward £1,204.37. Page 2 begins: Balance brought forward £1,204.37. They match, so nothing is missing between the pages. If page 2 instead began with £986.12, transactions totalling £218.25 of net money out would be missing between them.
The converter makes this comparison for you on every page it reads, and reports the first row where the balance stops following on.
Questions people ask
Should “balance brought forward” be in my spreadsheet?
Not as a transaction. It is the opening balance, not money in. The converter leaves it out of the transaction rows.
What does B/F mean on a statement?
Brought forward: the balance carried over from the previous page or statement.
Why do some pages not have these lines?
It depends on the bank. Each page’s running balances serve the same purpose.