Hubdoc vs Zera Books: Bank Statement Processing
Hubdoc (now part of Xero) was built for receipt and bill capture, not bank statement extraction. When accounting firms need to process bank statements, they need specialized tools. Here's why Zera Books delivers better results for statement processing at $79/month.
TLDR: Quick Summary
Hubdoc is a document management tool bundled with Xero, designed for receipt and bill capture. It stores bank statements but doesn't extract transaction data.
Zera Books is purpose-built for bank statement processing. It extracts every transaction with 99.6% accuracy, auto-categorizes for QuickBooks/Xero, and handles multi-account statements automatically.
Bottom line: If you need to reconcile bank accounts and import transactions into accounting software, Hubdoc won't solve that problem. Zera Books will.
What Hubdoc Actually Does (And Doesn't Do)
Hubdoc was acquired by Xero in 2018 and is now bundled with Xero subscriptions. It excels at capturing receipts and bills, but bank statement processing was never its primary focus.
What Hubdoc Does Well
Receipt Capture
Mobile app for photographing receipts, email forwarding
Bill Processing
Extract vendor name, amount, due date from invoices
Xero Integration
Native Xero connection for expense publishing
Document Storage
Organized cloud storage for financial documents
Hubdoc Bank Statement Limitations
No Transaction-Level Extraction
Cannot extract individual transactions from statements
No Multi-Account Detection
Cannot auto-detect combined statements
No AI Categorization
Transactions aren't auto-categorized for chart of accounts
No Excel/CSV Transaction Export
Cannot export statement transactions to spreadsheet
The Core Issue
Hubdoc treats bank statements like any other document for storage, but doesn't extract transaction data. When you need to reconcile bank accounts, you still have to manually enter transactions or rely on bank feeds. That's a significant workflow gap for accounting firms.
Why Zera Books Was Built for Bank Statements
Zera Books is purpose-built for bank statement processing. Our Zera AI was trained on millions of real financial documents specifically to extract transaction data with 99.6% accuracy.
Transaction-Level Extraction
Every transaction extracted with date, description, amount, and running balance. Complete data for reconciliation.
Multi-Account Auto-Detection
Upload a combined statement with checking, savings, and credit cards. Zera AI separates into individual Excel tabs.
AI Transaction Categorization
Auto-categorize transactions for QuickBooks and Xero chart of accounts. GAAP-trained categories built-in.
Flexible Export Formats
Export to Excel, CSV, QBO, or IIF. Pre-formatted for QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, Wave, and more.
99.6% Extraction Accuracy
Zera AI trained on millions of statements. Handles any bank format without templates or manual configuration.
Client Management Dashboard
Organize conversions by client. Track history, access past statements, manage multi-client workflows.
4 Document Types, Not Just Bank Statements
Zera Books processes bank statements, financial statements (P&L, balance sheets), invoices, and checks. Hubdoc focuses on receipts and bills. For accounting firms that need to process multiple document types for reconciliation, Zera Books covers more of your workflow.
Bank Statement Processing: Feature Comparison
| Feature | Hubdoc | Zera Books |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction Extraction | Not available | Full transaction extraction |
| Multi-Account Detection | Not available | Auto-detects all accounts |
| AI Categorization | Not for bank transactions | QuickBooks/Xero categories |
| Excel/CSV Export | Document storage only | Excel, CSV, QBO, IIF |
| Bank Format Support | Limited (storage only) | Any bank format worldwide |
| Scanned PDF Support | Basic OCR | Zera OCR (95%+ on image-based) |
| Batch Processing | Upload multiple documents | 50+ statements at once |
| Client Management | Basic folder organization | Full client dashboard |
| Financial Statements | Not available | P&L, balance sheets |
| Check Processing | Not available | MICR extraction |
Key Benefits of Zera Books for Bank Statement Processing
Save 30-45 minutes per statement
Eliminate manual transaction entry entirely
Process any bank format
No templates, no setup, just upload
Auto-categorized transactions
Ready for QuickBooks/Xero import
Multi-account detection
Automatically splits combined statements
Client management built-in
Organize all client conversions in one place
Unlimited processing at $79/month
No per-page fees, no usage limits
Workflow: Processing Bank Statements for Reconciliation
With Hubdoc
Upload Bank Statement PDF
Upload the statement to Hubdoc for storage
Manually Extract Transactions
Open the PDF and manually type transactions into Excel or wait for bank feeds
Manually Categorize
Assign categories to each transaction manually
Format for Import
Format spreadsheet to match QuickBooks/Xero import requirements
Import and Reconcile
Import transactions and reconcile in accounting software
Time per statement: 30-45 minutes with manual entry
With Zera Books
Upload Bank Statement PDF
Upload statement from any bank, any format
Automatic Transaction Extraction
Zera AI extracts every transaction with 99.6% accuracy
AI Categorization
Transactions auto-categorized for your chart of accounts
Export Ready-to-Import File
Download Excel, CSV, or QBO formatted for your software
Import and Reconcile
One-click import, transactions ready to match
Time per statement: 2-3 minutes total
Pricing Comparison
Hubdoc Pricing
Included with Xero
Bundled with Xero subscription ($15-78/month)
Note: Bank statement processing requires manual work or separate tools
Zera Books Pricing
$79/month
Flat rate, unlimited processing
No per-page fees. Process 10 or 1,000 statements, same price.
Different Tools, Different Value
If you're already using Xero, Hubdoc is included for receipt and bill capture. But for bank statement processing, you'll need Zera Books or similar tools. Many firms use both: Hubdoc for expense management, Zera Books for statement reconciliation.
When to Use Each Tool
Use Hubdoc When
- You need receipt capture from employees
- Managing vendor bills and accounts payable
- Auto-publishing expenses to Xero
- Document storage and organization
- You're already on Xero (included free)
Best for: Expense tracking, vendor management, receipt organization
Use Zera Books When
- You need to extract transactions from bank statements
- Processing multi-account combined statements
- AI categorization for chart of accounts
- Managing multiple client accounts
- Month-end close and reconciliation
Best for: Bank reconciliation, statement processing, accounting workflows
Many Firms Use Both
These tools solve different problems. Hubdoc captures receipts and bills flowing into your accounting system. Zera Books processes bank statements flowing out of bank accounts. For a complete accounting workflow, you might use Hubdoc (or Dext) for expense capture and Zera Books for statement reconciliation.
Table of Contents
"We were drowning in bank statements from two provinces and multiple revenue streams. Zera Books cut our month-end reconciliation from three days to about four hours."
Manroop Gill
Co-Founder at Zoom Books
The real-world workflow: Processing 40+ bank statements monthly from multiple provinces and revenue streams, extracting transactions, categorizing for QuickBooks, managing month-end close across complex operations.
This is exactly what Zera Books is built for. Hubdoc would store the statements, but Manroop's team would still need to manually extract and format every transaction for import—the exact bottleneck that was taking three days per month.
Need Real Bank Statement Processing?
Try Zera Books for one week. Upload unlimited bank statements, get AI-categorized transactions with 99.6% accuracy, and see how much time you save on reconciliation.
Try for one week$79/month after trial. Unlimited conversions, cancel anytime.