Import bank statement into Xero: how to load a PDF statement as OFX

Your options when you need to import a bank statement into Xero

Most Xero bank accounts are kept up to date by a bank feed. You need to import a bank statement into Xero yourself when a feed is not available for your bank, or when the feed started after the period you need, which is common when you take on a new client or catch up on old months.

Xero’s help centre lists the formats it accepts for manual import: OFX, QFX or QuickBooks files, QIF, and CSV. It recommends OFX where possible because OFX files can be imported without changing them. If your online banking can export OFX for the dates you need, that is the simplest route. If all you have is a PDF statement, you have two more options.

• Xero PDF import: Xero can import PDF bank statements for organizations in the United States and Canada, except those on the Xero Ledger plan. The PDF must be in English, 35 MB or less, at least 200 DPI, no more than 100 pages, scanned straight, and not password protected. Even here, Xero recommends OFX over PDF if your bank offers it.
• Convert the PDF to OFX first: use a converter such as Fulla Ledger to turn the PDF into an OFX file you have reviewed, then import it like a bank-issued file. Xero’s own help suggests a third-party conversion service when a PDF is all you have.

Why OFX instead of CSV for Xero

A CSV import works, but it needs preparation. Xero asks you to assign each column to a bank statement field and select a date format the first time you import a CSV. Income and expenses must be in a single Amount column, with expenses negative. Opening and closing balance columns and the account number should be deleted, because Xero calculates the balance from the transactions, and a CSV cannot exceed 100,000 rows.

An OFX file carries the same information in labeled fields, so none of those preparation steps apply. Each transaction has a posted date, a signed amount, a CREDIT or DEBIT type, a payee name and a memo, so there is no column to assign and no date format to choose. If you do need a CSV, the guide to converting a bank statement PDF to CSV covers that route.

Make the OFX file in Fulla Ledger

Upload the statement PDF to Fulla. Text, scanned, mixed and password-protected PDFs are accepted, up to 50 MiB and 250 pages per file and 10 files per upload. A password-protected PDF does not need to be unlocked first; enter its password through the document password prompt.

Review the drafted rows beside the source page. Check signs in particular: in the OFX file a negative amount is money leaving a bank account or a charge on a credit card, and a positive amount is money in or a card payment. Approve the revision, then select Download OFX. The file uses OFX 1.0.2 and describes one account, identified by its last four digits when the statement shows them.

If you are catching up on several months of the same account, approve each statement and use Combined OFX on the batch review page to produce one file with the transactions in date order. Fulla refuses to combine statements from different accounts, which matches Xero’s rule that each bank account needs its own import file.

What Xero does with the file

After you click Next, Xero shows the transactions it read from the file. Clear the checkbox next to any transaction you do not want, such as lines you have already entered by hand, then click Complete import. Xero recognizes duplicate transactions already imported from other files and excludes them during import, and the FITID on every Fulla transaction gives an importer a stable ID to compare.

Imported lines appear as statement lines on the bank account, listed in its Bank statements tab, and are waiting to be reconciled. They are not yet accounting transactions; nothing reaches your reports until you reconcile them.

Reconcile the imported statement lines

Reconciling in Xero means matching each imported statement line to a transaction in Xero, or creating one. Work through the account’s reconcile screen, use bank rules for repeating payees, and investigate anything that does not match.

When you are done, the balance in Xero for that date should equal the closing balance printed on the PDF statement, which is also included in the OFX file. If it does not, compare the imported lines with the approved rows in Fulla. Do it promptly: uploaded and derived financial content in Fulla expires 24 hours after the upload starts, and exporting does not extend that time. The free bank statement balance checker can confirm that the statement’s own opening balance, transactions and closing balance agree.

Verify the OFX handoff in your Xero account

Use a separate test account for the fictional OFX sample linked below. Confirm the account type, currency and statement period before completing an import. The sample is generated by Fulla’s actual exporter, but it is not a claim of a completed Xero import test.

Keep the source PDF beside the import preview and compare row count, dates and signed amounts. Review duplicate exclusions rather than assuming that the same filename or repeated upload is harmless. Xero’s current OFX and CSV instructions are linked below; region, role and product availability can affect the options shown.