Bank statement PDF to CSV for Xero and QuickBooks

Short answer: try the built-in PDF import first

Both products describe a direct PDF route on their own pages. If it works for your bank and gives correct transactions, you don't need a CSV. Otherwise, use the CSV import, which both products support.

What each product's own help says (checked 2026-11-08)

Sources: QuickBooks Online US: manually upload transactions · QuickBooks Canada: format CSV files · Xero US: connect your bank · Xero: Import a PDF bank statement · Xero: Import a CSV bank statement. All checked 2026-11-08. Xero's help pages could not be read in full by us, so the Xero CSV facts come from Xero's help as summarised in search results; open the article to confirm.

When a CSV is still the better route

• Your bank isn't covered. Xero's US page offers PDF upload for "a supported bank". If your bank, country or plan isn't covered, the CSV import is the other way in.
• You want to check every row first. In a CSV you can compare each row with the PDF, fix it, and keep a copy of exactly what you imported.
• You also want the data in a spreadsheet. The same CSV opens in Excel or Google Sheets.
• You'd rather not hand over the PDF itself. Quietools reads the PDF in your browser. Note that importing the CSV still sends its rows to your accounting software, as any import does. More on this in Is it safe to upload a bank statement?

Step 1: Convert the PDF to CSV without uploading it

Open Bank Statement PDF to CSV, drop a text-based statement PDF, check the rows and download the CSV. The PDF stays in your browser.

1. Open Bank Statement PDF to CSV and drop the statement PDF. It must be text-based (you can highlight a word in it). Scans and photos don't work.
2. Check the rows against the PDF. Click any cell to fix it.
3. Download the CSV. The free version exports the first 15 rows; the full version ($19 once) exports every row and can combine several statements into one file.

The CSV keeps your bank's own columns. A US-style statement with separate columns comes out like this (from our synthetic test statement):

What to know about the file: dates are kept as printed on the statement (not reformatted); withdrawals stay positive in their own column; amounts have two decimals with a dot and no thousands separators; the first line is the heading row; the file is UTF-8 with a BOM, comma-separated, with CRLF line breaks.

Step 2: Match the columns

For a single Amount column, click "Combine into one Amount column", remove the Balance column and check the headings and dates.

QuickBooks Online, 3 columns (Date, Description, Amount)

1. If the table has separate money-out and money-in columns, click Combine into one Amount column before downloading. Amount becomes money in minus money out, so money out is negative, as in QuickBooks' Canadian CSV example. QuickBooks' US help says that if the signs look reversed in the preview, you can reverse all values there.
2. Remove the Balance column with the ✕ in its heading. Combine keeps Balance; the 3-column layout doesn't use it.
3. Check the headings read Date, Description, Amount. Click a heading to rename it.
4. Check every date uses the same format. QuickBooks needs one format in all rows; Quietools keeps whatever your statement prints.
5. Keep each upload to 1,000 lines and 350 KB (US limits). Quietools doesn't split files, so convert one statement at a time rather than combining a year of statements.

QuickBooks Online, 4 columns (Date, Description, Credit, Debit)

Keep the separate columns, remove Balance, and rename the money columns to exactly Credit and Debit (QuickBooks says not to add the word "amount"). QuickBooks asks for empty cells instead of zeros; Quietools already leaves the unused side blank. QuickBooks' Canadian help also suggests removing numbers from the Description column; you can edit any cell before you download.

Xero

According to Xero's help (as of Nov 2026):

1. Money in and money out go in one Amount column, with money out negative. Click Combine into one Amount column.
2. Remove balance columns, account numbers and blank rows. Use the ✕ to remove the Balance column.
3. Put the headings in the first row, with no duplicate names. Quietools already writes them there.
4. On the first import you map each column to a Xero field. Xero keeps the mapping for later files with the same headings (how to change it).
5. If a date could be read more than one way, Xero asks which format the file uses. Your choice applies to that statement and to later CSV imports.

The Combine button only appears when Quietools recognises both a money-out and a money-in column. If it doesn't appear, your statement probably already has one signed amount column.

Step 3: Import the CSV

Upload the CSV with your accounting software's bank statement import and map each column the first time.

QuickBooks Online (US help, checked 2026-11-08): All apps › Accounting › Bank transactions › select the account tile › Link account drop-down › Upload from file (or Or upload transactions manually if the account isn't connected). Drag and drop or select the CSV, choose the QuickBooks account, map the columns, select the transactions to add, then Yes and Done.

Xero: according to Xero's help (as of Nov 2026), the import starts from the bank account's menu with Import a Statement, and that screen also offers Xero's CSV template. Menus can differ by region, so follow Xero's current help article. If Xero shows an error, see Xero's import troubleshooting article.

Questions