How to import a bank statement into Xero

Xero's bank feeds are the easy path, but they don't cover every account or every month. For older periods, closed accounts, or banks without a feed, you import a statement file into the matching bank account in Xero. This guide covers the file types Xero accepts, the CSV rules that trip people up, and how to get there from a PDF.

What can you import into Xero?

Xero says you can download transactions from online banking as an OFX, QBO, QFX, QIF or CSV file and upload it (Xero blog). OFX-family files carry structured fields, so there's no column mapping. CSV is the universal fallback and the one you'll use when converting a PDF yourself.

Xero does not import a PDF statement directly into a bank account. For supported US and Canadian banks, Xero's companion app Hubdoc can extract a PDF statement into a pre-formatted CSV (Xero blog).

The Xero CSV rules

From Xero Central's CSV import article:

Only Date and Amount are mandatory. Payee, Description and Reference are optional but make reconciling much easier.
One Amount column for both directions. Income positive, expenses negative, written as -30.00 or (30.00). Separate Debit/Credit columns are not the expected shape.
No commas as decimal separators.
Payee names should match existing contacts exactly, or Xero may create duplicate contacts.
Credit cards: payments positive, purchases negative.

Accepted date formats

Xero accepts DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY and YYYY/MM/DD, plus DD/MM/YY, MM/DD/YY, DD/MMM/YY, DD/MMM/YYYY, space-, hyphen- and period-separated variants, and DDMMYYYY with no separators (Xero Central). If a date could be read more than one way, Xero asks you to confirm, then applies that choice to the whole statement and to future CSV imports. Pick carefully the first time.

Step-by-step: import a CSV statement

In Xero, open the Accounting menu and select Bank accounts.
For the right account, click the menu icon and choose Import a Statement.
Upload your file and click Next.
First import only: assign each column in your file to a Xero bank statement field. Transaction Date and Transaction Amount must be assigned. Xero remembers the mapping for later imports with the same headers.
Confirm the date format if prompted.
Review the lines, untick anything you don't want, and click Complete import.

(The steps follow Xero Central's CSV and QIF import articles; the flow is the same apart from mapping, which OFX and QIF files don't need.)

The imported lines appear in the account's Reconcile tab, where Xero suggests matches against your invoices, bills and bank rules.

From PDF to a Xero-ready CSV

Convert the PDF statement to CSV with a single signed Amount column (money out negative).
Check the signs. Some statements print withdrawals with a minus inside a "withdrawals" section; double-negating them turns every expense into income.
Check completeness: opening balance + sum of amounts = closing balance on the statement. Xero's import checks the file's format, not that every transaction is present.
Make dates unambiguous. If the statement is day-first, keep it day-first and confirm DD/MM when Xero asks.
Import, then reconcile.

Footed converts PDF statements to CSV, Excel or OFX in your browser (only the extracted text is sent for parsing, processed in memory, not stored) and reconciles the extraction against the statement's own opening, closing and running balances before you download. If you import OFX, there is no column mapping step in Xero.

Avoiding duplicates and mismatches

Don't overlap with the feed. If a feed covers the last few months, import only what's older.
One file per account per period. Xero imports into a single bank account at a time; Xero's QIF guidance is explicit about downloading a separate file for each account (Xero Central).
Mistakes after import. A Xero community request asked to edit imported statement lines directly; Xero's answer was its Bank Reconciliation report, where you can enter the statement's ending balance and see the difference (Xero Product Ideas). Practically, it's still easier to get the file right before importing.

FAQ

Why are descriptions missing after I imported a CSV? The Description column wasn't assigned during mapping. A Xero user reported exactly this; assigning the column on the preview screen fixed it (Xero Product Ideas).

Can I use separate Debit and Credit columns? Xero's CSV import expects one Amount column, positive for money in and negative for money out. Combine them first: Amount = Credit − Debit.

OFX or CSV? OFX if you can get it: no mapping, fewer sign mistakes. CSV when you need to edit or inspect the data first.

Will Xero accept a converted file from another bank's PDF? Yes. Xero cares about the file format, not who produced it. Import into the correct bank account and reconcile against the original statement.

Turning PDFs into Xero imports? Footed exports CSV or OFX, keeps the PDF in your browser, and highlights any row that doesn't agree with the statement's balance. Free for 5 pages a day.

Published 2026-10-07.