Format guide
Bank statement CSV format: columns, dates and amounts
Short answer
The CSV has a header row, then one row per transaction: Date, Description, then either Debit and Credit columns or one signed Amount column, plus Balance when the statement prints one. Dates follow the format you choose and amounts use a dot for decimals with no thousands separator.
Updated
What the format is
CSV is plain text with one row per line and commas between the columns. Nearly every spreadsheet and many accounting programs can read it. It has no types, so the program reading it decides what is a date and what is a number.
Which software takes it
- Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.
- QuickBooks Online, which reads CSV with three columns (Date, Description, Amount) or four (Date, Description, Credit, Debit). Choose the matching layout when you export.
- Xero, but use the Xero CSV layout for that.
- Most programs with a “map columns” step on import.
How our file is laid out
Date,Description,Debit,Credit
10/03/2026,CORNER CAFE 0412 SEATTLE WA,12.40,
10/15/2026,PAYROLL DEPOSIT ACME LTD,,1800.00Date,Description,Amount
10/03/2026,CORNER CAFE 0412 SEATTLE WA,-12.40
10/15/2026,PAYROLL DEPOSIT ACME LTD,1800.00| Detail | How we write it |
|---|---|
| Dates | MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD. The default is the style the statement uses |
| Amounts | A dot for decimals, no thousands separator, no currency symbol. In the four-column layout both columns are positive |
| Balance | An extra last column, only when the statement prints a running balance |
| Encoding | UTF-8 with a byte-order mark, so Excel shows accents correctly |
| Line ends | Windows style (CRLF) |
| Quoting | A description with a comma or quote mark is put in quotes |
| Formula guard | A description that starts with =, +, - or @ gets an apostrophe in front, so a spreadsheet can’t run it as a formula |
How to import it
- 01In the export options, choose the date format your software expects and the Debit and Credit or Amount layout.
- 02Download the CSV.
- 03In Excel or Google Sheets, open it directly. In accounting software, choose its import-from-CSV option and map the columns: Date to date, Description to description, and the amount columns to amounts.
- 04For QuickBooks Online, leave Balance unmapped, and upload no more than 1,000 lines or 350 KB at a time. The steps are in the QuickBooks Online guide.
Common errors and fixes
Days and months swapped
The program read 03/04/2026 the other way. Export again with the date format the program or your computer’s region expects. YYYY-MM-DD is the least ambiguous, but not every program accepts it. Xero, for one, doesn’t list it.
Accents or symbols look garbled
The program didn’t read the file as UTF-8. Open it with the import dialog, not by double-clicking, and choose UTF-8 as the file encoding.
A description starts with an apostrophe
That is the formula guard. It only appears on descriptions that begin with =, +, - or @, and it stops a spreadsheet from running them as formulas.
Amounts are the wrong way round
In the four-column layout both Debit and Credit are positive. Debit is money out. If you need one signed column, export the three-column layout, where money out is negative.
Converter
Bank statement to CSV
Converts a text PDF to CSV in your browser, checked against the statement’s own balances.
Text PDFs are read in your browser and never uploaded. Scanned PDFs are not supported yet; OCR is coming soon.
Questions
Debit and Credit, or one Amount column?
Why is there no currency symbol?
Can I use a bank’s own CSV instead?
How do I know the transactions are right?
Is my statement uploaded anywhere?
Does this work on scanned statements?
What does it cost?
Sources
Pages used for this guide. Software changes menus often, so if a label differs on your screen, the vendor’s page is the one to follow.
More guides
General information, not accounting or tax advice.