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A CSV import adds transactions to one account you choose. Use it to bring history into an account that is not on a bank feed, or to top one up between syncs.
A CSV import adds transactions to the account you select, inside your current budget. It does not create a new budget and it does not overwrite your existing budget. To migrate a whole budget from another app, use YNAB, Monarch, or Actual instead.

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Import a file

1

Open the CSV importer

Go to Import. Pick the target account for the transactions, then upload your CSV file.
2

Map the columns

Budget Bandit auto-detects which CSV column is the date, the amount, the payee, and so on. Adjust any that are wrong using the Map To dropdowns. Required: a Date column, and either an Amount column or an Inflow plus Outflow pair.
3

Set the date format

Leave it on Auto-detect, or pick the exact format your bank uses if dates look wrong in the sample.
4

Preview and check duplicates

Continue to the preview. Each row is checked against transactions you already have in that account and tagged new, duplicate, or likely duplicate.
5

Choose how to handle duplicates and import

Pick Skip duplicates (recommended), Skip only exact matches, or Import everything, then import. The result shows how many were imported and how many were skipped.

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Column mapping

You map each CSV column to one of these fields:
FieldWhat it is
DateRequired. The transaction date.
AmountA single signed column (negative for spending).
Inflow / OutflowUse instead of Amount when your bank splits credits and debits into two columns.
Payee / DescriptionThe merchant or description.
Memo / NotesExtra notes.
CategoryA category name, if your file has one.
Reference IDA bank-supplied unique ID, used to match duplicates exactly.
SkipIgnore this column.
If your bank reports spending as positive numbers, tick Invert amounts to flip the signs. If you map only Inflow, all amounts come in positive; only Outflow, all negative. Full field-by-field reference: CSV format.

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Duplicate detection

Budget Bandit compares each incoming row to what is already in the account:
  • Exact match — the same Reference ID, or an identical date, amount, and payee.
  • Likely duplicate — a close match within a few days, even without a reference ID.
  • New — no match found.
Skip duplicates imports only new rows, which is the safe default when a file overlaps history you already have.

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Save your mapping

Tick Remember this mapping for future imports to this account and Budget Bandit reuses your column choices the next time you import a file with the same columns into the same account.

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If rows do not come through

Rows with an unreadable date or amount are skipped, and you are told how many. See Why rows did not import.

CSV format reference

Exact columns, date formats, and amount handling.

OFX / QFX import

A structured file that needs no column mapping.

Why rows did not import

Skipped, dropped, or duplicate rows.

Connect a bank

Sync instead of importing files.