The Infinite Kind

The CSV (comma separated values) format is essentially a table of rows and columns, like a spreadsheet. It is very versatile and not specifically designed to contain financial information.

As such, there is no standard way for a bank to store data in such a file. There is no standard order for the columns in a CSV file or names for those columns.

As a result of this, the import process for CSV files is more involved than any other standard format.

For this reason, we recommend using either OFX, QFX or QIF files for importing your data whenever possible. OFX and QFX files are the best format, with QIF files being the second best and CSV files being a distant third.

Importing CSV Files -

Open Moneydance and choose File > Import. Select the file CSV you'd like to import.

You can then choose the import settings.

• Specify the account you'd like to import data into. 

• "Fields Delimiter" is the character that's used in your CSV file to separate the fields. Comma is quite common and so is tab. If you're unsure, select comma.

• You may need to change the date format to the format used within the file.

• Then specify either a period '.' or comma ',' as the decimal used in the file and click Next.

If you're unsure of any of these settings, open the CSV file with a text program like NotePad or TextEdit. This will allow you to see the file contents and you can check the delimiter, the date format and the decimal used. The next window displays a list of fields. Each of these fields represents a column in the CSV file.

For example - "Field 1" is the first, left-most column in the file. "Field 2" is column 2, to the right of the first column, and so on...

You need to select the Moneydance transaction field that corresponds with the column in the CSV file.

To do this we suggest opening your CSV file in a spreadsheet program (like Excel or Numbers) to see which column is which. You can use that as a reference to match the different field values to the corresponding columns in the CSV file.

Use the "More Fields" and "Fewer Fields" buttons to adjust the number of fields to import, corresponding to the number of columns in your CSV file.
The number of fields you set should exactly match the number of columns within the CSV file.

If there are certain columns you don't want to import data from, set them as "ignore".

Click "Finish" to import the file.

Importing Problems -

If your transactions have been imported, but the information displayed is incorrect (e.g. dates are wrong) then it's likely the wrong settings were selected during the import process.

If you want to attempt the import without affecting your accounts, you can create a new dummy account called "Import Test" by selecting Account > New Account.  

Using this new account will allow you to test the import settings until you find the correct settings to use. When you're done, you can delete the 'Test' account without affecting your other accounts or balances. You can then proceed to import your data into the correct account, using the correct settings. 

If you're unsure which import settings to use, you can contact the support team by emailing support@infinitekind.com, or by creating a new support ticket here.

Importing transactions in this way will import them as "unconfirmed" and as though they have been downloaded from your bank. You'll find the steps for handling these imported transactions in this article.

If you need to import CSV transactions from other personal finance software (rather than from the bank), you should use the "Text File Importer" extension instead. Using this extension is detailed in THIS ARTICLE.