Importing transactions from banks and reconciliation

Set up the account

Recording every transaction by hand works, but your bank already has them all. This lesson shows you how to bring in the file you download from your bank, review it before it reaches your accounts, and then reconcile the account with the statement, so you know your figures and the bank's agree.

If you're coming from another app, you can bring your history in from the separate import for that purpose. Here the focus is your bank's file.

Before importing, you need the account the file belongs to. If you don't have it yet, create it now, with its type, currency and opening balance. If you've already recorded some transactions by hand, keep them: the same charges will arrive in the bank's file, and you'll deal with them during review.

Bring in your bank's file

Teach the format once

Banks lay out their exports differently, so abacova learns each layout once. Open the screen for importing your bank's file, which accepts CSV and spreadsheet exports. Teaching a format takes three steps:

1. Upload sample: add a file downloaded from your bank's website.
2. Configure: map the columns, such as the date, description and amount, set the reading options and check the preview.
3. Save: give the format a name, a description and a default account.

Import the file

Each time you download a new file, come back to the Import file tab, choose the saved format, select the file and import it. A message tells you how many rows are new and how many were skipped as already imported. Any rows abacova couldn't read are counted with their line numbers, so you can fix them or enter them by hand. If you import the same file twice here, nothing is added.

Review before saving

Incoming rows wait in a review queue rather than going straight to your accounts. Give each row one of three decisions:

• Include: it's a new transaction.
• Match: you've already recorded it. abacova lists recorded transactions with the same amount and a nearby date. When the nearest is within three days and no other is equally near, it's marked Recommended. If the right one is missing, Include anyway adds the row as new.
• Ignore: drop the row, for example a temporary card hold that isn't a real expense.

Your decisions are only noted at this stage. Nothing changes until you press the apply button. When you're done, Finish this file closes it, and any rows you left unreviewed are discarded after a warning.

Reconcile with the statement

The last step is checking your figures against the bank's. Open Reconciliation in the main menu. The Accounts tab lists each account with the date it was last reconciled, plus its reconciled and pending amounts.

Match the account with the bank

Start a reconciliation on the account and enter the statement's date and balance. Then tick each transaction that appears on the statement. The difference turns green at zero, which means what abacova says and what the bank says agree. Continue, then finalize.

Reconciled transactions are locked, so they can't be changed by mistake. Only the tags, category, description and payee can still change, after a confirmation. To change anything else, you reopen the reconciliation, which is possible for an account's latest finished one.

The account now matches your bank, with imported and hand-recorded transactions side by side.