Import bank statements into Sage
Sage Accounting and Sage 50 Accounts import a bank statement as an OFX, QIF or CSV file, and a PDF is not among the formats either one lists.
Last updated September 19, 2026
Which file does each Sage product take?
Each Sage product reads bank files through a different screen, and the lists differ, but OFX is on every list except Sage 200's, and a PDF is on none of them.
| Product | Bank files it imports | Where the import starts |
|---|---|---|
| Sage Accounting and Sage Accounting Start | OFX, ASO, QIF, CSV, XLS and XLSX | Banking, then Actions on the bank account, then Import statement |
| Sage 50 Accounts, v30.1 and above | .CSV, .BAI, .XML, .TXT, .OFX, .ASO, .QBO, .QFX, .QIF and .XLS | The Bank Feeds module, then Import statement |
| Sage 50, U.S. Edition | .OFX or .QFX | Tasks, then Account Reconciliation, then Import |
| Sage 50, Canadian edition | OFX, and CSV or OFX through Bank Services | File, then Import / Export, then Import Online Statements |
| Sage 200 | A file from your bank's own e-Banking service, or a bank feed | Cash Book, then Period End Routines, then Bank Reconciliation |
Source: Sage's own knowledge base and product help for each edition, read September 19, 2026. Sage revises these pages, so check the one for your version if something behaves differently.
What CSV layout does Sage Accounting expect?
One of two layouts, with the columns in this exact order: three columns, Date, Description and Amount, or four columns, Date, Description, Money in and Money out.
| Rule | Three columns | Four columns |
|---|---|---|
| Headings, in order | Date, Description, Amount | Date, Description, Money in, Money out |
| Dates | Separated by slashes, such as 04/01/2021 | Separated by slashes, such as 04/01/2021 |
| Description | Text on every row, on one line | Text on every row, on one line |
| Money | Numbers only, payments in and out in one column, payments out negative | Numbers only, payments in under Money in and payments out under Money out |
Sage also takes optional extra columns, such as a reference or a payee name, as long as each heading matches one on its published list. An XLS or XLSX file is read from its first tab only, and an OFX file from its first bank account only, with any other account in the file ignored.
The three-column layout is the one every conversion here already writes as the CSV for import: the headings Sage names, in its order, dates with slashes, and money out negative in a single Amount column, with no balance column to delete.
Date,Description,Amount 03/03/2026,Card payment,-42.60 05/03/2026,Deposit,2140.00 12/03/2026,"Supplier, March",-960.00
Dates come out day first unless the statement is in US dollars, and you can change the order on the workbook's Statement details sheet. Whichever order the file uses, choose the same one when Sage asks. Both CSV files, and what is in each.
How do I import a bank statement into Sage Accounting?
From Banking, open Actions on the bank account, select Import statement, upload the file, confirm the date format, review the transactions, then confirm the import.
- From Banking, find the bank account the statement belongs to.
- Select Actions, then Import statement.
- Browse to the file or drag it in, then select Review transactions.
- Select the date format your file uses, then Continue.
- Check the transactions for errors, then select Confirm import. From here you process them as you would from a bank feed.
Sage keeps the settings from the first import to an account, so the next file can go in with Import without review. Two rules in Sage's own article decide what a file can hold: a foreign currency bank statement cannot be imported, and neither can transactions dated before your Accounts Start Date. On a catch-up job, convert from the start date forward.
How do I import into Sage 50 Accounts?
In Sage 50 Accounts v30.1 and above, through the Bank Feeds module, and OFX is the file to take, because it names every field and leaves no columns to arrange.
- Open the Bank Feeds module. For an account with no bank feed, click the Get started link on it, then Import statement on the Work with bank transactions window. For an account with a feed, open the feed and select Import, then Continue.
- On the welcome screen select Continue, then Select a file from your device, and open the .ofx file.
- If Sage asks for the date order, choose the order your file uses.
- Check the Review transactions window, then click Confirm import.
- The transactions appear on the To be matched tab, ready to match with your Sage transactions.
What about Sage 50 in the United States and Canada?
The U.S. edition imports an OFX or QFX statement inside Account Reconciliation, one month at a time, and the import does not create transactions in Sage.
The path is Tasks, then Account Reconciliation; select the Account to Reconcile, enter the Statement Date, click Import, choose Manually select a statement, browse to the file and click Import. Sage's article says the feature is not in Pro Accounting, and that importing a bank statement will not generate transactions in Sage. So convert one monthly statement at a time, and have its transactions entered in Sage before you import it for the reconciliation.
The Canadian edition imports an OFX statement through File, then Import / Export, then Import Online Statements. Bank rules do not apply on that route; Sage points to its Bank Services upload, which takes CSV or OFX, when you want them.
What about Sage 200?
Sage 200 reconciles a bank account in one of three ways: a bank feed, an e-Banking import of the file your bank's own e-Banking service produces, or by hand against a bank statement.
The e-Banking import reads each banking service's own file layout, one component per service, so for a converted statement the route is the third one. Open Cash Book, then Period End Routines, then Bank Reconciliation, then Bank Reconciliation, select the bank account, enter the Statement date, the Page number and the End Balance, match the transactions and click Reconcile. The Excel file from a conversion is the statement to work from: every row, its running balance, and a closing balance the rows have already been checked against.
How do I get a PDF statement into that shape?
Convert the PDF, fix any flagged row in the review workbook, upload it, and download the file your Sage product takes.
- Convert the PDF. Scans and phone photographs are read too. Pages are free every day and no account is needed. Convert a statement.
- Read the flagged rows. Any row whose arithmetic disagreed with the balance printed beside it is marked in the review workbook, with the size of the difference. Fix those against the PDF now; inside Sage they are transactions you have to find again.
- Fill in the Statement details sheet. OFX needs the account number, the account type and the currency. For the CSV for import and the QIF, check Date order in QIF and CSV files.
- Upload the workbook and download. Every format comes from the same workbook, and a second format costs no pages.
| If you use | Download | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sage Accounting | OFX, or the CSV for import | OFX needs no editing; the CSV for import is Sage's three-column layout when you want to edit rows on the way in |
| Sage 50 Accounts | OFX | On the Bank Feeds list, and names every field itself |
| Sage 50, U.S. or Canadian edition | OFX | The format both editions import; the U.S. edition also takes QFX |
| Sage 200 | Excel | The statement to reconcile against by hand |
A statement that covers several accounts comes out as one list, so convert each account as its own document: Sage Accounting reads only the first account in an OFX file. PDF to OFX covers what the OFX file needs from you, and PDF to QIF covers the QIF, which Sage Accounting and Sage 50 Accounts both read.
Why the balance check matters more on an import than on a spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is read by a person, who notices when a number looks wrong. An import is read by software, which does not. Once a misread amount is inside Sage it is a transaction like any other, and it surfaces weeks later as a reconciliation that will not close.
So the review workbook carries the result of the check with it. Each row is recalculated against the running balance the bank printed beside it, and the opening balance plus every row has to reach the closing balance on the statement. A row that disagrees is flagged, with the size of the difference, and the file you import carries only the rows you confirmed. An amount is never quietly corrected on your behalf. How the check works.
Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB
The same conversion covers all four. Xero takes OFX and a three-column CSV, QuickBooks takes QBO and CSV, and MYOB takes QIF and OFX. Downloading a second format costs no pages, so there is no need to decide before you convert. The full list.
Convert one and see
During the launch offer ten pages a day are free, and you don't need an account to run your own statement through it.