How to Prepare a Bank CSV for IIF Conversion
Bank exports often contain useful transaction fields alongside balances, labels, and institution-specific formatting. Prepare the file so the converter can inspect the transaction rows you actually intend to export.
Clean the header row
Keep one header row at the top and use clear names for the fields you will map. Remove title lines, account summaries, and notes above the header. If the bank repeats a header inside the data, treat that row as a cleanup item rather than a transaction.
Separate balances from transaction amounts
A running Balance tells you the cumulative account state after a row. It is not normally the amount of that transaction. Look for Amount, Debit, Credit, Withdrawal, Deposit, or a similar transaction-value field, and compare one known row with the statement.
Check delimiter and dates
LedgerHarbor's working converter expects comma-separated values. Some institutions export semicolon-delimited or tab-delimited text even when the file name ends in CSV. Save a comma-separated copy after checking that commas inside descriptions remain quoted. Confirm whether dates are month/day/year, day/month/year, or ISO-style before mapping.
Example prepared structure
A useful starting row might be Date,Description,Debit,Credit,Balance, followed by 07/05/2026,Office supply,42.18,,1250.00. Map the transaction fields and leave Balance for comparison rather than treating it as the row amount.
Pre-conversion checklist
- Keep one header row.
- Remove title and summary rows.
- Confirm comma separation.
- Identify transaction values.
- Check date interpretation.
- Keep the original export.
Limitations and review guidance
Bank formats are not standardized. LedgerHarbor can help surface malformed dates, blank values, and numeric problems, but it cannot verify an institution's private export rules or reconcile a balance. Review the preview and exported file locally before using it elsewhere.
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Open the bank CSV workflowThis preparation guideCommon CSV formatting errorsColumn mapping guide