Accounting imports · Xero
How to import a bank statement into Xero
From a PDF statement to reconcilable statement lines in Xero, in about five minutes.
or drop it here
Read in this browser. Your file is never uploaded.
Rows wrong or missing?
Send us the shape of this statement, not its contents. The report below is made in this browser. It keeps where text sits, dates and column headings. Every name, amount, reference and account number is replaced with x and 1, as you can see. Nothing is sent until you send it.
Then email the report to support@statementtocsv.co.uk and say which bank it is from. We’ll add the layout and let you know.
| Date | Description | Paid in | Paid out | Balance |
|---|
Send us the shape of , not its contents. The report below is made in this browser. It keeps where text sits, dates and column headings. Every name, amount, reference and account number is replaced with x and 1, as you can see. Nothing is sent until you send it.
Then email the report to support@statementtocsv.co.uk and say which bank it is from. We’ll add the layout and let you know.
| Check | Result | What we found |
|---|
Statements
| Period | File | Opening | Closing | Rows | Used as |
|---|
| Date | Description | Paid in | Paid out | Balance | From |
|---|
Works with text PDFs that have Date, Description, Paid in / Paid out (or Amount) and Balance columns. Scanned or photographed statements are not supported yet. The samples are fictional test data.
Steps
- Convert the statementChoose the PDF in the converter above and check the result says “Verified”.
- Download the Xero CSVClick “Xero CSV”. The file has Date, Amount, Payee, Description and Reference columns, with money out as negative amounts.
- Open the bank account in XeroIn Xero, go to the bank accounts list (under Accounting) and open the account the statement belongs to.
- Choose Import a statementFrom the account’s options (often “Manage account”), choose Import a statement and select the CSV file.
- Match the columnsXero shows each column of the file. Assign Date to Transaction Date, Amount to Transaction Amount, and Payee, Description and Reference to the matching fields. Choose dd/mm/yyyy as the date format.
- Import and reconcileXero reports how many statement lines were imported. They then appear on the account’s Reconcile tab, ready to match or create transactions.
Xero’s menus change from time to time. If you can’t see “Import a statement”, search Xero’s help for “import a bank statement”.
If Xero rejects the file or the import looks wrong
Dates in the wrong month, or “invalid date”
The date format chosen during import doesn’t match the file. The Xero CSV uses dd/mm/yyyy. Also check you haven’t opened and re-saved the CSV in Excel on a computer with US settings, which can turn dates into mm/dd/yyyy. If in doubt, download the CSV again and import it without opening it.
Money in and out are the wrong way round
Check that the Amount column was assigned to Transaction Amount and that nothing reversed the sign. In the Xero CSV, money out is negative.
Statement lines appear twice
The dates overlap a bank feed or an earlier import. Delete the duplicate imported lines that haven’t been reconciled, then import only the missing period.
The statement balance in Xero doesn’t match the bank
A transaction is missing or duplicated somewhere, or the opening balance of the account in Xero is wrong. Because every converted statement is checked against the bank’s running balance before you download it, the converted rows themselves will add up; look for overlaps with existing lines, or a period that was never imported. The whole-year check helps you confirm a set of statements is complete before you import it.
Importing several months
You can import one CSV per statement, or check the whole set with “Several statements” and import a single combined Xero CSV. One import is faster and avoids missing a month.
Questions people ask
Can Xero import a PDF bank statement?
No. Xero imports CSV, OFX and QIF files. Convert the PDF to a Xero CSV first.
How do I delete an imported statement in Xero?
Xero lets you remove imported statement lines that haven’t been reconciled, from the bank account’s statement view. Reconciled lines need to be unreconciled first.
How many transactions can I import at once?
Xero handles large statement files, but very large imports are easier to check in yearly or quarterly chunks.
Do I need a bank feed as well?
No. Statement imports work on accounts with or without a feed. Just don’t import periods the feed already covers.