Brought Forward

Brought Forward

Importing a bank statement PDF into Xero

Xero won’t import a PDF statement. It takes CSV or OFX. Brought Forward’s “Xero” download is a CSV with the columns Xero’s statement import maps automatically (Date, Amount, Payee, Description, Reference), with UK dates and signed amounts. OFX works too.

The Xero CSV

Date,Amount,Payee,Description,Reference
02/03/2026,-82.47,NORTHGATE ENERGY,DD,
03/03/2026,1777.79,FENWICK DESIGN LTD INVOICE 1093,CR,
04/03/2026,-3.85,HARBOUR COFFEE CO,VIS,
  • Date is dd/mm/yyyy, which Xero expects for UK organisations.
  • Amount is negative for money out and positive for money in.
  • Payee holds the bank’s description, which bank rules match on. Description holds the payment type where the statement gives one.

Importing it

  1. In Xero, open Accounting, then Bank accounts, and choose the account.
  2. Choose Import a statement (under Manage account) and pick the downloaded file.
  3. Check the column mapping Xero suggests and the date format (dd/mm/yyyy), then import.
  4. Reconcile as usual. If the period overlaps a bank feed, Xero warns about duplicates.

CSV or OFX?

Both import into Xero. OFX needs no column mapping and carries a transaction ID for each row, which helps Xero spot a statement imported twice. The CSV is easier to read and edit first.

Questions

Hubdoc doesn’t convert statements to CSV. Is this the same thing?
This does that job: a PDF statement goes in and a Xero-ready CSV or OFX comes out, with every row checked against the statement’s balance first.

Last checked 26 October 2026.