How to import a bank statement into Xero

Which file to use

You need the administrator or standard + bank accounts user role in Xero to import a statement.

Convert the PDF

1. 01Open the converter and drop in your PDF statement. It is read in your browser and not uploaded. Open a sample statement first if you want to see how it works.
2. 02Look at the balance check. It compares the statement’s printed opening and closing balances with the rows it read. If it shows a difference, fix or add the missing rows before you export.
3. 03Choose OFX or Xero CSV in the export bar.
4. 04For Xero CSV, set the date format to MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY, whichever your Xero organisation uses. Skip YYYY-MM-DD: Xero’s list of accepted formats has slashes, not hyphens, for year first.
5. 05For OFX, the account number is optional. Leave Bank ID alone; it only matters for QuickBooks.
6. 06Download the file. Keep the file name or rename it; the name doesn’t matter to the import.

Import the file into Xero

1. 01In the Accounting menu, choose Bank accounts.
2. 02On the account you want, open the menu (the three dots) and choose Import a Statement.
3. 03Drag the file in, or select it, then choose Next.
4. 04The first time you import a CSV, assign each column to a Xero field. Date goes to Transaction date and Amount to Transaction amount. Match Payee, Description and Reference too, then choose Next.
5. 05If Xero asks for the date format, pick the one your file uses and choose Next. Xero applies it to the whole statement and to later CSV imports.
6. 06Review the lines. Clear the box next to any line you don’t want. Choose Complete import.
7. 07Reconcile the statement lines as usual.

What is inside our Xero CSV

Date,Amount,Payee,Description,Reference
10/03/2026,-12.40,CORNER CAFE 0412 SEATTLE WA,CORNER CAFE 0412 SEATTLE WA,
10/15/2026,1800.00,PAYROLL DEPOSIT ACME LTD,PAYROLL DEPOSIT ACME LTD,

Money out is negative and money in is positive, in one Amount column, which is what Xero asks for. Payee and Description both carry the statement’s text, and Reference is empty. There are no balance columns, because Xero works out the balance from the transactions. See the Xero CSV guide for the rest.

Common errors and fixes

Dates come in the wrong way round, or fail

A date like 03/04/2026 can be 3 April or 4 March. If Xero asks which format your file uses, answer for the file, not for your Xero settings. It then applies that choice to later CSV imports as well, so if you switch between day-first and month-first files, check the choice each time. Dates written year-month-day with hyphens, like 2026-10-31, aren’t among the formats Xero lists. Export again with MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY.

Lines show errors on the review screen

Xero lists lines that are ready, lines with warnings and lines with errors. To fix an error, change the value in the file and import it again. Xero skips lines it already has, so re-importing a corrected file is safe.

Spending shows as income, or the reverse

Xero wants spending as negative numbers in the same column as income. Our Xero CSV does that. If you built your own CSV, check the signs. On a credit card account, purchases are negative and payments are positive.

Duplicate transactions

Xero treats lines that match ones it already has as duplicates and leaves them out. Overlapping statements are usually fine for that reason. If a duplicate still gets through, the dates or amounts differed slightly; delete the extra statement line in Xero.

Import a Statement isn’t in the menu

Check your user role. Xero asks for administrator or standard + bank accounts. If you are on a bank feed only account, ask the organisation’s admin.

The CSV has more than 100,000 rows

Xero doesn’t take CSV files that long. Split the statement, or use OFX.