Read time: under 3 minutes
| # | What you do | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Log in to your bank's website and export a statement as CSV or Excel | Your bank's website |
| 2 | Open the import dialog for your account type: Bank, Credit Card, or Brokerage | Dashboard → Import |
| 3 | Drag your file into the dialog — format is detected automatically | Import modal |
| 4 | Select an existing account or create a new one | Import modal |
| 5 | Review the transaction preview and configure options | Import modal |
| 6 | Tick the confirmation checkbox and click Import | Import modal |
Importing bank and credit card statements gives you a complete, accurate transaction history inside MySpend without manual data entry. Once imported, your transactions can be:
You can import statements from any bank or credit card. MySpend recognises the most common formats automatically; for anything else, the built-in AI detects the column layout so you rarely need to configure anything manually.
Every bank's website is slightly different, but the steps are broadly the same:
Log in to your bank's online portal.
Navigate to your account's Transaction History or Activity page.
Choose the date range you want to import — e.g. the last 90 days, or the full calendar year.
Find a Download, Export, or Save button near the top of the transaction list.
Choose CSV as the format. If CSV is not available, Excel (.xlsx or .xls) works too.
Save the file to your computer without opening or re-saving it in Excel first.
MySpend has three separate import dialogs — one for each account type. Open the one that matches your file:
| Dialog | Use for | How to open |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Import | Checking and savings accounts | Dashboard → Import → Import Bank Statement |
| Credit Card Import | Credit card accounts | Dashboard → Import → Import Credit Card Statement |
| Brokerage Import | Investment accounts (dividends, interest, trades) | Dashboard → Import → Import Brokerage Statement |
Drag your statement file into the upload area, or click inside the dotted box to open a file picker.
Supported formats: CSV · XLSX · XLS · ODS
As soon as the file loads, MySpend analyses it in two passes:
Pattern matching — the column layout is compared against built-in definitions for common bank and card formats. A match shows a green badge: "Detected: Chase Bank" or "Detected: Chase Credit Card".
AI detection — if no built-in definition matches, MySpend sends a short sample of the file to its AI, which identifies the date, amount, vendor, and other columns. This takes a few seconds and shows "Analysing format with AI…" while it runs.
Either way, the result is the same: the file is parsed and the transaction preview loads below. You rarely need to configure anything manually.
Every imported transaction belongs to a Transaction Account in MySpend — a named record that represents your actual bank account or card.
After the file is parsed, an Account dropdown appears:
The import dialog shows a scrollable preview of all transactions parsed from the file, along with summary totals.
Each row shows the date, vendor or description, amount, and direction (debit/credit). Any transaction that appears to already exist in the selected account — same amount, similar vendor name, and date within two days — is flagged with a DUP badge and will be skipped by default.
| Option | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Skip duplicates | On | Skips transactions that match ones already in the account. Leave on for routine imports. Turn off only if you need to force a full re-import. |
| Import payments | Off (credit card only) | Includes payment and transfer rows — the monthly payment that pays off the card. Leave off unless you need to track card payments explicitly. |
| Keep local | Off | Saves transactions to your device only; does not sync to your cloud account. Useful if you prefer not to upload sensitive financial data. |
Below the preview you will see total debits, total credits, and the transaction count — for both the full file and the filtered set after removing duplicates. Verify these against your bank statement before confirming the import.
Read the confirmation statement — it shows the account name and transaction count.
Tick the confirmation checkbox to confirm you have reviewed the details and the account name is correct.
Tap Import.
MySpend merges the new transactions into the selected account and updates all summaries instantly. If the file contains earlier transactions than any previously imported, the account balance history adjusts accordingly.
The following formats are recognised automatically without any configuration:
Re-export the file directly from your bank's website without opening it in Excel first. Make sure you downloaded a CSV or Excel file — not a PDF, OFX, or QFX file. If your file uses a non-UTF-8 encoding, open it in a text editor and save it as UTF-8.
Make sure you are using the correct dialog: Bank Import for checking/savings, Credit Card Import for cards. The sign convention for amounts differs between the two. If the AI picked the wrong column as the amount, re-export and try the other dialog.
MySpend supports YYYY-MM-DD, M/D/YYYY, M/D/YY, and D-Mon-YYYY. If your bank uses a different format, check the raw CSV in a text editor and contact support with a sample row.
Skip duplicates is on by default and handles most overlap. If you are still seeing doubles, the two copies may differ by one day — some banks post transactions with a different date than when they clear. You can delete duplicates manually from the transaction list.
Go to Settings → Accounts, find the transaction file you just created, and delete it. Then re-import the same file and select the correct account.
Each transaction has a classification badge. Tap it to set it as Business Expense, Personal, Income, Owner Reimbursement, or Transfer. Unclassified transactions are excluded from financial summaries and AI analysis.
For accurate account balance tracking, set the opening balance for each account — the balance on the day before your earliest imported transaction. Find this in the account settings panel by tapping the account name.
Once transactions are in MySpend, the AI Bookkeeper can answer questions like:
Transactions that correspond to scanned receipts can be linked manually or matched automatically during reconciliation — so the same purchase is not counted twice across your expense reports and your bank statement.