Importing Bank Transactions

#Manual Transaction Import

To manually import transactions from a CSV file:

1. Go to Settings > Bank accounts
2. Find the account and click Import Transactions
3. Click Upload File and select your CSV file
4. Review the column mapping (shown below)
5. Click Import to process the file

The system validates the file format and attempts to map CSV columns to transaction fields.

#CSV File Format

Your CSV must include these required columns:

Date - Transaction date (format: YYYY-MM-DD or M/D/YYYY)

Amount - Transaction amount in the account's currency

Description/Name - Payee or description

Reference - Optional reference number or memo

Type/Sign - D for debit (withdrawal), C for credit (deposit), or +/- signs

Additional optional columns:

• Transaction ID - Unique identifier from your bank
• Original Amount - For multi-currency (before conversion)
• Fees - Bank fees
• Balance - Running account balance

#Column Mapping

If your CSV columns have non-standard names, map them:

1. After uploading, you see a mapping interface
2. Drag CSV column names to match Light fields
3. Mark required columns to map before proceeding
4. Click Confirm Mapping

Light learns your CSV format and pre-fills the mapping for future imports.

#Transaction Validation

Light validates each transaction before importing:

• Date format - Must be valid date
• Amount format - Must be valid number
• Debit/Credit sign - Must be D/C or +/-
• Required fields - Date, amount, and description must be present

If validation fails, you'll see which rows have errors. Fix the CSV and re-upload.

#Handling Duplicates

Light checks for duplicate transactions using:

• Date + Amount + Description - Must match exactly
• Transaction ID - If provided, must be unique

If a transaction already exists in Light, the import skips it with a notification. This prevents duplicate posting.

You can force reimport if needed, but duplicates will be created.

#Data Cleansing

Light applies some data cleansing during import:

• Whitespace trimming - Removes leading/trailing spaces
• Amount normalization - Handles various decimal separators (. or ,)
• Date parsing - Interprets common date formats

For amounts with thousands separators (e.g., "1,000.50"), remove separators before uploading.

#Batch Processing

For large files (1,000+ transactions), import runs in the background:

1. Upload the file
2. You see a background job ID
3. Transactions import over a few minutes
4. Notifications update you on progress
5. Once complete, transactions appear in your account

Check Background Jobs to monitor large imports.

#Transaction Post-Processing

After import, transactions are available for reconciliation:

1. Go to Banking > Bank Accounts > [Account Name]
2. View imported transactions
3. Match them to accounting entries
4. Mark as reconciled

Reconciliation happens separately from import (covered in other articles).

#Importing to Multiple Accounts

To import for multiple accounts:

1. Create separate CSV files for each account
2. Upload each file to its corresponding account
3. Or, use a single CSV with an account field and specify mapping

Multi-account CSV must include an "Account" or similar column to distinguish which transactions go to which account.

#Handling Historical Data

When importing years of historical data:

1. Start with oldest transactions - Import year-by-year
2. Use batch imports - Split large files into monthly chunks if needed
3. Monitor progress - Check that all transactions imported successfully
4. Reconcile by period - Reconcile each month as you import it
5. Build up to current - Once historical data is imported, ongoing imports are easier

For multi-year imports, plan for a few hours of processing time depending on file size.

#Correcting Imported Transactions

If you need to correct an imported transaction:

1. Open the transaction
2. Edit the Description, Amount, or other details
3. Click Save

Only certain fields can be edited. If you need to change the date or transaction ID, you may need to delete and re-import.

#Deleting Imported Transactions

To remove an incorrectly imported transaction:

1. Open the transaction
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm deletion

Once deleted, the transaction is removed from reconciliation. If you accidentally deleted a transaction, you can re-import it from your CSV.

#File Format Examples

CSV with standard columns:

Date,Description,Amount,Type
2024-01-15,Office Supplies Co,500.00,D
2024-01-16,Customer Payment,2500.00,C

CSV with additional details:

Date,Description,Amount,Sign,TransactionID,Fees
2024-01-15,Wire Transfer OUT,10000.00,-,WIR-12345,0.00
2024-01-16,ACH Deposit,5000.00,+,ACH-67890,0.00

CSV with multi-currency:

Date,Amount,Currency,OrigAmount,OrigCurrency,Description
2024-01-15,535.00,USD,500.00,EUR,Wire from Munich

#Troubleshooting Import Issues

"Date format not recognized" - Use YYYY-MM-DD or M/D/YYYY format consistently

"Amount values not valid" - Remove currency symbols and thousands separators

"File too large" - Split into multiple files (max 50,000 rows per file)

"Encoding error" - Save CSV as UTF-8 (not UTF-16 or other encodings)

"Duplicates rejected" - This is intentional to prevent duplicate posting; use force reimport if certain

#Scheduling Regular Imports

For accounts not supported by bank feeds:

1. Export transactions from your bank monthly
2. Set a calendar reminder to import
3. Follow the import process
4. Reconcile immediately after import

This keeps your Light account current even without automated feeds.

#Best Practices

• Use bank feeds when available - Feeds are more reliable than manual imports
• Validate CSV before upload - Check a few rows for correct format
• Import frequently - Weekly or monthly prevents large backlogs
• Reconcile immediately - Don't wait weeks to reconcile imported transactions
• Keep original export files - Archive your bank exports for audit trail
• Document mapping - Keep notes on which CSV columns map to Light fields

#Related Articles

• Connecting bank accounts
• Setting up bank feeds
• Automated bank reconciliation