Bank statement to Xero
Xero's manual bank import wants a payee and a description as separate fields, and it reads a negative amount as money out. Getting the columns in the right order is the difference between a five-minute import and an afternoon of cleanup.
What Xero expects
Four columns, in this order, with a header row the importer can map:
| Target | Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xero CSV | Date | Amount | Payee | Description |
Splitting payee from description
Bank descriptions are one long string — something like CARD PAYMENT TO TESCO STORES 3241 ON 12/09. Xero wants the counterparty on its own. Because the description is passed through intact, you can split it once in Excel with a delimiter, or leave it in the description field and Xero will still import and match.
Negative means money out
Xero treats a negative amount as a payment from the bank account and a positive as a receipt. If your source statement keeps two columns, they must be folded into one signed amount first — otherwise Xero reads every line as a receipt and the reconciliation never balances.
Questions
Can I import several accounts at once?
One CSV per bank account. Xero imports against the account you select on the import screen, so mixing accounts in one file puts everything in one ledger line.
What date format does Xero want?
It follows your organisation's date setting. YYYY-MM-DD, which is what this converter writes, is unambiguous and works under any setting.
Will it match existing transactions?
Xero attempts a match on amount and date. If you import a period already covered by a bank feed, review the duplicates it flags before approving.
Other formats
Try it on your own statement
No account, no card, no email. Convert one file and check the rows against the original.
Open the converter