Bank Statement CSV Format: How to Download One and Check It

You need your bank transactions in a file, either for your accountant or to import a bank statement into the program you use for your books. This guide covers how to get that file from online banking, which file type to choose, what a good CSV looks like and the checks that catch most problems before they cost you an evening.

Statement or transaction download

Banks offer two different things, and the names vary. A statement is the monthly document, usually a PDF, and it is the official record. A transaction download (some banks say transaction history or account activity) is a list of lines you can export as a file. That second one is what software wants.

If you only need the lines, look for a download or export icon above the transaction list, not on the statements page. U.S. Bank, for example, keeps up to three years of history online and does not offer downloads in its mobile app, so use a computer.

Which file type to pick

If the download menu gives you a choice, this is the rough order for a freelancer:

• OFX or QFX, if offered. These are made for software, so dates and amounts arrive in fixed places.
• CSV, if not. Every bank has it, and it opens in a spreadsheet so you can look at it.
• Excel (XLSX), if your bank offers it instead of CSV. It opens in a spreadsheet just the same; check that the program you import into reads it, since some only take CSV.
• QBO and QIF are formats made for particular programs. Check what the program you import into accepts before you pick one.
• PDF is for reading. Use it only if there is nothing else.

A CSV is a plain text file with one transaction per row. Most banks put these columns in it: date, description, amount (or separate money-out and money-in columns) and sometimes a running balance.

How to download it

The steps differ by bank, but the path is almost always the same.

• Log in on a computer, not the phone app.
• Open the account and the transaction list.
• Choose the date range. If you are adding to something you already have, start the day after your last line. If this is the first time, start where your records start.
• Choose the file type from the download menu and save it. Download one account at a time.

Two examples from the banks' own help pages. U.S. Bank: the download icon in the Transactions tile, then the date range and the format (CSV, QFX or QBO). American Express (US): recent activity and your past six billing statements can be downloaded, with CSV among the formats.

What a good bank CSV looks like

Open the file in a spreadsheet and check these things. It takes a few minutes.

• One header row, then data. Some banks add lines above the header (account name, date range) or a total at the bottom. Delete extra lines in a copy, never in the original.
• Dates all in the same style. Month first (03/04/2026 means March 4) is usual in the US; day first (3 April) in the UK. A date like 13/04/2026 tells you which one the file uses.
• Amounts with a clear direction: either one column where money out is negative, or two columns. Find a payment you know, such as $29.00 for a software subscription, and see whether it is negative.
• Amounts like 1,250.00 inside quotation marks, otherwise the comma splits the amount into two columns. Some files use semicolons and decimal commas instead. Both are valid; your software must know which one it has.

Checks before you load it

• Count the rows. Does the number of lines roughly match the activity you remember for that period?
• Check the balance. If the file has a balance column, take the first balance, add all the amounts and see whether you land on the last balance. Example: $4,210.00 opening, $3,850.00 in, $2,615.40 out gives $5,444.60. If the bank shows $5,414.60, a $30.00 line is missing.
• Check the date range against the last file you loaded. If two files overlap, some programs spot repeated lines and some do not.
• Keep the original. Work on a copy if you must change something, and if the spreadsheet program changes the dates when you open the file, close it without saving.

How long to keep the file

The IRS says you generally keep records that support income, deductions or credits until the period of limitations for that return runs out, which is three years in the usual case and longer in some. In the UK, GOV.UK says self-employed people must keep records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year. This is general information, not tax advice: check what applies to you with your own adviser.

US and UK wording

Americans say categorize; in the UK it is categorise. US bank help pages tend to mention QFX and QBO, UK ones OFX and QIF. Loading a file is also not the same as reconciling, which means checking your records against the bank balance line by line.

If you use QuickBilling

QuickBilling reads CSV and Excel files from any bank (XLSX, and the .xls exports many banks offer) and the bank formats CAMT (camt.053 and camt.052), MT940, OFX and QFX. It works out which column is the date, the amount, the payee and the text. The one Excel file it does not read is the old format from before 2007; save that as XLSX or CSV first. Before importing, it checks that every line has a valid date and amount, that opening balance plus lines equals the closing balance when the file has balances, and that lines you imported before are not imported again. Payments are matched to your open invoices, money out to expenses you entered, and the rest waits in Needs a look. Nothing reaches your books until you press Import, and a whole import can be undone. There is no bank login: you upload the file you downloaded.

If your bank only gives you a PDF, the paid plans accept PDF statements that contain real text (not scans or photos). The text goes to an AI provider after you agree, with account and card numbers hidden first, and the import is marked Unverified if the lines do not add up to the closing balance. When you can choose, a CSV or a bank-format file is still the cleaner route.