Accounting books in CSV format

The CSV format can be used to import files from many different accounting packages. Note that CSV format represents the double-entry book-keeping approach to accounting. Transactions are split across rows in the CSV file. The first row of each transaction is special to different the start of a new transaction.

CSV files should have a single row header, describing the field names used in the CSV file.

The following fields are required:

Field

Description

Date

Date in DD/MM/YY format. Note 2-digit year.

Transaction ID

A unique ID for each transaction.

Description

A human-readable description of the transaction

Full Account Name

An identifier for the account.

Amount Num.

The amount of the transaction. in dotted decimal form. Comma-separated is permitted.

All other fields are presently ignored.

Note that transactions are split across lines.

The first row of each transaction has a value for Date, Transaction ID and Description. The subsequent rows which belong to each transaction have empty values for these cells.

The account names can be any string, but must be used consistently across the accounting records.

By default the mapping into e.g. VAT accounting uses accounts names as used by GnuCash. e.g. VAT:Output:Sales. You can alter this mapping using Edit mapping on the Books tab.