Troubleshooting bank file imports

Learn about the most common errors encountered when importing bank files and what you can do to resolve the issue.

In this user guide

'Invalid date' error
Import failed due to date detection error with a CSV file
Data is malformed
Import failed because there were no transactions to import
Import failed due to an unknown error
Expense transactions showing as income after importing a bank file
Transaction dates are incorrect after importing a bank file

'Invalid date' error

This error usually happens when uploading a CSV file that has been previously opened in Excel.

To prevent this error, upload the file to PocketSmith directly after downloading it from your bank. Do not open the file on your computer before uploading.

'Import failed due to date detection error' with a CSV file

PocketSmith will try to detect the date format of your file automatically, but if there are too few transactions to compare, it may not be able to determine the date format.

Exporting and uploading a bank file with a broader range of transaction dates within a month will usually fix this error.

Data is malformed

If you receive an error that 'Data is malformed', this indicates that the file is incorrectly formatted.

First, we recommend re-exporting the file from your bank and ensuring it is not opened or edited before importing it into PocketSmith.

Import failed because there were no transactions to import

This error normally occurs if the date of the transactions within the file are the same as the dates of transactions already within PocketSmith for this account and the overlapping option selected is Leave transactions on overlapping dates out

This can be fixed by changing the overlapping option when importing the file but be aware of deleting existing transactions.

Import failed due to an unknown error

This error can occur due to an incorrectly selected CSV format or due to various formatting errors within the file.

Read more: Import failed due to an unknown error

Expense transactions are showing as income after importing a bank file

If you've imported a bank file and notice that the transactions are showing expenses as income, and income as expenses, this is likely due to the way the bank has listed the transaction amounts in the bank file.

The good news is this is really easy to fix, and you can be fixed by choosing the Amounts in this statement file are reversed option when importing the file.

Transaction dates are incorrect after importing a bank file

When importing CSV and QIF bank files, PocketSmith will try to work out the date format that has been uploaded without asking you for additional input.

If the file has been opened in Excel before importing, PocketSmith may import transactions with the incorrect date format.

The easiest fix is to re-download the file and import it into PocketSmith without opening it in any application first.