Table of Contents
More help on mapping a statement
Statement Layouts and how to map them
Introduction
Before importing a statement file downloaded from your bank, you must first set up a bank account in your Clear Books account. This guide explains how to manually create a bank account and import a statement file.
1. Create bank account
Before importing a statement, you must first set up your bank account in Clear Books. Follow the 4 steps below to do so.
Step 1.
Click on the “Bank accounts” widget header on the Dashboard.
Step 2.
Click on the “Add bank account” button.
Step 3.
Select the “Bank account” as the account type.
Step 4.
Enter your bank account name and hit “Save” at the bottom.
2. Import a statement
Before importing your statement file, you must first set up a bank account in Clear Books.
You can download a statement from your bank's online portal and then import it. We recommend using the CSV format, but other formats are also supported, including OFX, QBO, QIF, SWI, and 940 files.
Remember to periodically download statements from your bank and import them into Clear Books.
Step 1.
Click on the “Import” link on the Dashboard for your bank account
Step 2.
Either drag and drop your statement file into the "Upload a file" box, or click the box and select the file you downloaded from your bank.
Step 3.
Next, you'll need to map the columns of your statement to the corresponding data fields in Clear Books. For first-time CSV statement imports, these mappings will be saved, so this step won't be necessary for future imports.
For more help on mapping, please head to section 4.
Once the statement is imported, you will land on the page to begin explaining the transactions.
More help on mapping a statement
The table below should help explain which columns you should map each field to:
Field Name | Required? | Notes |
| Ignore | Map this field against any column you don’t want to import data from. | |
| Description | Yes | Map this field against the description of the transaction. This can be assigned to multiple columns if required. |
| Amount* | Map this field to a column where payments and receipts appear together (receipts as positive and payments as negative). | |
| Money in* | Map this field to a column with receipts (credits) only. | |
| Money out* | Map this field to a column with payments (debits) only. | |
| Date | Map this field to the transaction date column. Format DD/MM/YYYY or DD/MM/YY | |
| Credit/debit toggle | Map this field against a column showing the text 'credit' or 'debit' on each row. This must be used in combination with Amount, which should be mapped to a column where all the payments and receipts appear in one column as positive amounts. | |
Inverse amount* | Map this field to a column where payments and receipts appear together (receipts as negative and payments as positive). |
* at least 1 of these fields must be mapped to the file
Statement Layouts and how to map them
Bank statements come in a variety of different layouts. For additional help on the mapping process, below are some of the common types of statement layouts and how mapping can be processed in each case.
You do not need to map the balance from the statement as this will build up automatically in Clear Books.
You can map as many columns as you like to the 'Description' field in Clear Books
Money in/out
If you have one column showing money in and one column showing money out, you will need to map money in (a credit on a bank statement) to the Money in field and money out (a debit on a bank statement) to the Money out field. Ignore any unnecessary columns of data from the statement.
Amount
If debits and credits are combined and money out is shown as a negative value, use the amount field. Disregard any unnecessary columns, such as the balance.
Credit/debit toggle
Should your statement feature a column indicating whether a transaction is a debit or a credit, it's necessary to map the credit/debit toggle accordingly.
Additionally, the Amount field must be mapped to the column displaying each transaction's balance. Any superfluous columns, such as the overall balance, should be disregarded.
This format is less common than the two previously mentioned.
