Import bank and card statements

Download statements from your bank's website and import them into an account. PDF statements work best; CSV, OFX and QFX downloads work too. Nothing is saved until you click Import, and importing the same statement twice is safe: Balancivo skips anything already in the books.

Before you start

• Add the account first. See Add a bank or card account by hand.
• If a PDF is password-protected, download an unprotected copy from your bank.

Steps

1. Go to Import statements in the menu.
2. Choose the Account the statements belong to.
3. Add your files. Drag them onto Drop statements here, or click Choose files. You can add a whole year at once, up to 24 files. Click Remove to take one off the list.
4. Click Read statement (or Read with the number of statements). PDFs are read on your computer.
5. Check each statement. Each card shows a status:
   • Ties out: the beginning balance plus every transaction equals the ending balance.
   • Off by an amount: a line may be missing or misread.
   • Balances missing: Balancivo couldn't find the beginning or ending balance.
   • Read on import: CSV, OFX and QFX files are read when you import them.
6. Fix anything that's off. Click Review on a PDF statement. Untick a line under Import to leave it out, or click Make money in or Make money out to flip an amount that came out backwards. You can also correct Beginning balance and Ending balance (for a card, Previous balance owed and New balance owed).
7. Click Import (it shows how many statements). Statements are imported oldest first.
8. Click Review transactions to categorize what came in, or Import more to start again.

If a CSV needs its columns matched

The first time you import a CSV from an account, Balancivo may ask Match the columns for that account.

1. Set Lines above the header row if the file has extra lines at the top.
2. Choose the Date and Description columns, and the Date order (Month/day/year, Day/month/year or Year-month-day).
3. Choose how amounts are shown. Pick One amount column and its Amount column (tick Purchases are positive numbers in this file if purchases aren't negative), or Separate debit and credit and choose Money out (debit) and Money in (credit).
4. Click Save and import. Balancivo remembers this for the rest of the batch and next month. Skip this file leaves it out.

Good to know

• Duplicates are skipped. After importing you'll see how many lines were "already in the books, skipped." That includes the same month imported in another format (its PDF statement and the bank's CSV export): a line with the same amount within 3 days, inside the other statement's dates, counts once. Two real $5 coffees on the same day still count twice.
• Lines in a month you've closed are skipped too.
• Balancivo warns you when two statements cover overlapping dates, when a statement may be missing between two months, or when one month's ending balance doesn't match the next month's beginning balance.
• For CSV, OFX and QFX files, Beginning balance and Ending balance are optional. Fill them in to have Balancivo check the import.
• A statement that "doesn't tie out" is still imported. Check it before you close that month.
• If you have a bank connection, you can still import statements. Balancivo matches them to what the bank already sent. See Connect your bank.
• Cancel any time before importing with Cancel.