Using Excel to Access PayPal Records
PayPal makes its database of your transactions accessible to you in a format called CSV, or "comma-separated values." Most spreadsheet applications like Excel, Quattro Pro, or OpenOffice.org Calc—the same ones that you may use to balance your checkbook or do your taxes—are capable of reading and importing files stored in this format.Because PayPal can create CSV files for you based on the date ranges, you can use PayPal to generate quick, accurate, complete accounting information about your eBay transactions that you can then store on your own computer and manipulate in a spreadsheet application, for example, to sort by transaction type or get quick totals for tax purposes.
Creating a CSV File Using PayPal
To create a CSV file of your PayPal transactions, log into the PayPal website just as you would to view your account normally. Once logged in and viewing the default "My Account" page, follow these steps:- Click "History." Click on the blue and white "History" link near upper center of the page. (Hint: it's located between the "Withdraw" and "Resolution Center" links.)
- Click "Download My History." On the history page, click the "Download My History" link at the upper left of the page. Alternatively, you can simply visit the PayPal "Download My History" page directly.
- Enter your desired dates. Fill out the form by selecting the "Custom Date Range" option, then entering beginning and ending dates for the transactions you want records for. Once you begin the download, PayPal uses these dates to determine which records to include—the file PayPal makes and sends to you will list all transactions you carried out between these dates.
- Select "Comma Delimited — All Activity" as the file type. In the "File Types for Download" drop-down list, select the type of file you want to download. There are a number of options, including options for Quicken and Quickbooks files, but for our purposes in this article (interoperability with Excel), just select the first option, "Comma Delimited – All Activity."
- Click "Download History." After you click on the "Download History" button near the bottom of the page, PayPal will pause for a few moments to access its database before sending your web browser a file called Downoad.csv. Save this to your desktop for easy access.
Advanced users reading along with this article may already know what exactly what they want to do with the data at this stage—if this is you, feel free to download to other formats (like the Quicken or Quickbooks formats) or to deviate from the procedure outlined on the next page.
