Before importing a bank statement, check the account, date range and transaction amount column. A balance is not a transaction, and a transfer between your own accounts is not a new expense. This guide explains how to prepare the file, review possible duplicates and check the results of Finantzak’s web import for Premium.
In this article
1. Prepare the file and define the date range
Download the transactions from your bank’s website or app. Keep the original file and work on a copy. Note the account and dates included: if you have already recorded part of that period, compare the rows with existing transactions.
Finantzak’s web app offers bank statement import for Premium in XLSX, XLS and CSV formats, according to the product reference reviewed on 8 October 2026. This is not an automatic bank connection or direct PDF import. A bank offering a downloadable file does not, by itself, establish that its format will be recognised automatically.
2. Select the transaction amount, not the balance
BBVA explains that the amount belongs to each transaction, while the balance shows what remains in the account afterwards. Depending on the bank, incoming and outgoing amounts may use signs or separate columns. Identify this difference before assigning columns.
Fictional example: an account starts with €1,000.00. It receives a salary of €1,500.00, pays €42.50 at the supermarket, transfers €300.00 to another account belonging to the same person and pays €60.00 for electricity. The table shows only these four transactions; it is not user data or a Finantzak screen.
The account check is: 1,000.00 + 1,500.00 − 42.50 − 300.00 − 60.00 = €2,097.50. For the supermarket, record an expense of €42.50, not the €2,457.50 balance remaining afterwards. Consumption expenses total €102.50; the €300.00 transferred remains your own money.
If the savings account is also included in your tracking, the €300.00 increases its balance without changing the combined total across both accounts. In this example, €2,097.50 is the closing balance of the source account, not an amount freely available to spend: other commitments could still be outstanding.
Fictional example: transactions in an account with an opening balance of €1,000.00
| Date | Description | Amount | Balance afterwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 September 2026 | Salary | +€1,500.00 | €2,500.00 |
| 2 September 2026 | Supermarket | −€42.50 | €2,457.50 |
| 3 September 2026 | Transfer to own savings account | −€300.00 | €2,157.50 |
| 4 September 2026 | Electricity | −€60.00 | €2,097.50 |
3. Check dates, separators and signs
If you review a CSV in Microsoft Excel, check that columns are separated correctly and amounts retain their decimal values and signs. Its documentation explains that opening a CSV directly may apply the current format settings; in supported versions, importing from text or CSV lets you check the delimiter in a preview.
A date such as 04/09/2026 can be interpreted differently depending on the settings. In our example it means 4 September. Compare several dates and amounts with the original statement, not just the first row. If both transaction date and value date appear, check what each represents before selecting a column; these labels are not interchangeable.
4. Review duplicates and separate internal transfers
Compare the account, date, amount and description with existing records. A transaction reference, if available, provides another clue. Two identical charges on the same day do not prove duplication: they could be separate purchases. Investigate matches before excluding rows.
Pay particular attention to overlapping date ranges and expenses recorded manually. If you also track a credit card, distinguish its purchases from the subsequent settlement from the bank account so that you do not count the same consumption twice.
Finantzak’s import creates income or expenses, so you must exclude internal transfers. In the example, do not import the €300.00 as an expense or as income in the other account: check whether the transfer is already recorded and, if it is missing, represent it once as a transfer between the relevant accounts.
5. Review the web import before confirming
Upload the XLSX, XLS or CSV file and select the destination account. Review columns, dates, signs, invalid rows and possible duplicates before confirming the rows you want to import. If the format is not recognised, you can assign columns manually; do not assume automatic compatibility with every bank.
Toby’s optional assistance with interpreting the format requires consent and may send a small sample to the configured provider, subject to its limits. You can disable it and use manual selection. Consult the privacy policy for the applicable data handling terms.
Check the current file size and row limits and retention periods on screen: no figures are included here because they can change. Importing records does not move real money. Cancelling stops pending work and keeps what has already been saved; check which transactions were created before retrying.
6. Check the results before analysing spending
Imported transactions are created as income or expenses without categories. After importing, compare dates, types and amounts with the rows you chose to include, and classify the records. Also review any transactions saved before an interruption.
In the example, if the salary and the two consumption expenses were not already recorded, importing them should add €1,500.00 of income and €102.50 of expenses. Check the €300.00 transfer separately. To reconcile the closing balance of the source account, you must also consider that transfer and the opening balance; adding income and expenses alone is not enough.
A matching balance does not, by itself, prove everything is correct: two errors could cancel each other out. Check the rows and uncertain matches. Once the data has been reviewed, the monthly spending guide helps with a different task: classifying it and establishing a review routine.
Put it into practice
- Destination account and date range checked.
- Transaction amount column selected, not the balance column.
- Dates, decimal values and signs compared with the original.
- Possible duplicates reviewed individually.
- Internal transfers excluded from income and expenses.
- Records saved after an interruption checked before retrying.
- Imported transactions reviewed and classified.