Exporting a Full Transaction History for Your Accountant
Five steps to produce a record that an accountant can work from, and the four fields that must be in it.
Gabriel Mas ·
An accountant needs a list, not a login. Producing one takes five steps and about fifteen minutes per venue.
Step 1: find the export, not the screen
Almost every venue has a reports or statements section separate from the transaction list on screen. The export is there and usually offers CSV.
The on-screen list is frequently truncated and frequently omits fees.
Step 2: set the full date range
Default ranges are short. Set it from account opening to the end of the period, and export in one file where the venue allows it.
Several smaller files are fine if they do not overlap. Overlapping exports produce double counting, which is worse than missing data because nobody notices.
Step 3: check the four required fields
Date and time. Transaction type. Amount and asset. Fee.
If the export lacks fees, it is incomplete and your accountant will ask. Some venues put fees in a separate export, which must be joined.
Step 4: add the rate if it is not there
Every transaction needs a value in your reporting currency at the time it happened. Some exports include it, many do not.
Where it is missing, you need a consistent price source and a note of which one. Changing sources mid-year makes the whole set unusable.
Step 5: include on-chain movements
Deposits and withdrawals are transactions too, and the network fee on each is a cost. Exchange exports often cover trades and omit transfers.
Export both and keep them as separate files with clear names.
What a good export looks like
One row per event, with date, type, asset, amount, fee, counterparty or destination, and a reference. An exchange with a withdrawal flow you can follow without guessing usually produces exactly this, because it has business customers who demand it.
What to do at the end of each month
Export, save, and file it with the month’s other records. A monthly habit turns year end into a merge rather than an investigation.
Collect & Exchange issues periodic statements in the account name, which an accountant will accept directly. A platform with a withdrawal checklist of its own tends to have the reporting discipline that goes with it.