CSV Import & Export

Budgero is manual-first, but "manual" doesn't mean typing every line. The importer turns your bank's exports into transactions in a couple of minutes — and the exporter guarantees your data is never locked in.

Supported formats

The importer accepts more than CSV:

• CSV / TSV / TXT — the universal bank export
• OFX / QFX / QIF — classic bank and Quicken formats
• CAMT.053 — the XML statement format common with European banks
• PDF — Budgero extracts tables from statement PDFs; you pick the table, then map columns exactly like a CSV

That last one matters more than it sounds: plenty of banks only offer statements as PDFs, and table extraction means you don't need to retype them. (This is table extraction, not receipt scanning — point it at statements, not crumpled grocery receipts.)

Mapping your file

Bank exports never agree on column names, so the importer shows a preview and lets you map columns yourself:

1. Pick the header row. If your bank pads the file with logo lines and disclaimers, skip rows until the real headers show.
2. Map the columns. Required: a date column and either a single amount column or an inflow/outflow pair. Optional: payee, memo/description, category, and account.
3. Set the formats. Dates are auto-detected across the common patterns (YYYY-MM-DD, DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY, DD.MM.YYYY, and more), and number formats cover US/UK (1,234.56), European (1.234,56), Swiss, and French conventions — so a Deutsche Bank export and a Chase export both land correctly.
4. Review the preview and import.

If the file doesn't carry an account column, you choose the destination account up front — the usual case, since most banks export one account per file.

Avoiding duplicates

The importer does not automatically deduplicate against existing transactions — combining imports with manual entry is where duplicates come from, so adopt one of two disciplines:

• Import-only accounts: for accounts you import regularly, don't also enter transactions by hand. Import in non-overlapping date ranges (e.g., export "last month" on the 1st) and duplicates simply can't occur.
• Manual-first with backfill: if you enter as you spend, treat imports as a checking mechanism instead — reconcile against the bank (see Accounts) rather than importing the same period twice.

If you do double-import a range, sort the account's transactions by date and delete one side — and reconcile after, so the verified balance confirms you removed the right ones.

Categorizing what arrives

Imported transactions without a category land in Uncategorized — the system holding pen. Work the list down to zero soon after each import; an accurate budget with a fat Uncategorized balance is an oxymoron. If your bank's export includes a category column that roughly matches your structure, map it during import and you'll only need to fix the stragglers.

Exporting your data

Everything goes out the same door it came in. Settings → Data Management → Export Data offers two formats:

Export	Contents	Best for
CSV bundle (zip)	budgets, accounts, categories, category groups, transactions, assignments, goals — one CSV each	Accountants, spreadsheets, tax season, analysis
Database backup (.db)	Your complete budget as a SQLite database	Full backups, migrating to self-host

Because your data is end-to-end encrypted, exports happen on your device after you unlock with your master password — the server never sees the plaintext at any point (see the Security model for why that matters).

A sane backup habit: export the CSV bundle quarterly and before any big restructuring. It costs one click, and it means even a worst-case mistake — a deleted category, a botched import — is recoverable from the last snapshot of the truth.