The short answer
The American Express Canada file has 6 columns, dates written as MM/DD/YYYY and one signed amount column. YNAB wants a CSV with the columns Date,Payee,Memo,Outflow,Inflow. So the date is rewritten as YYYY-MM-DD, the amount is split into Outflow and Inflow, and the text columns are moved as in the table below.
Paid pack. The American Express Canada profile is one of the 35 profiles unlocked by a licence (9 US dollars, paid once; see the terms). Without a licence you can still convert this file with the free manual column mapper, using the column table on this page, within the free limit of 25 rows per file.
The converter runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded.
What the American Express Canada CSV looks like
- Country: Canada.
- Account type: card (type not stated by source).
- Header row: none. The first line is a transaction.
- Columns: 6, separated by commas.
- Date format: MM/DD/YYYY, for example 03/04/2024 (the source writes it as m/d/Y).
- Amounts: one signed amount column. Evidence for the direction: it is inferred from the role the open-source importer gives the column; no sample row confirms it.
- Header text: the source gives column positions and meanings only, not the header names.
Note kept with this layout in the profile data: No header row. The sign comes only from the importer role; card exports often list purchases as positive, so the converter should ask the user to confirm the direction in the preview.
What YNAB accepts
- File type: CSV (the vendor calls it the recommended and preferred format); QFX, OFX and QIF are also accepted.
- Header row: optional; the import preview has a "No header row" option.
- Required columns: Date, Outflow, Inflow.
- Optional columns: Payee, Memo.
- Amounts: Two positive columns: money out in Outflow, money in in Inflow. A single signed amount column is also accepted: the user selects the same column for both Inflow and Outflow in the import preview, and YNAB reads positive and negative values from it. The preview has a "Swap Inflow and Outflow" option.
- Dates: not stated on the page; the columns and their reading are confirmed in the import preview.
| YNAB column | Required by YNAB | Filled from the American Express Canada file |
|---|---|---|
| Date | required | column 1 |
| Payee | optional | column 4 |
| Memo | optional | column 5 |
| Outflow | required | column 3, rows that are money out |
| Inflow | required | column 3, rows that are money in |
From the vendor's help page: "Select that same Amount column for both the Inflow and Outflow fields in the import dropdowns. You don't need to reformat your file or split it into two columns first—YNAB reads positive and negative values from a single column."
Column-by-column mapping
Every column of the American Express Canada file, left to right, and where it ends up in the YNAB file.
| Column | Header text | What it holds | Where it goes in the YNAB file |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not given by the source | Transaction date | Date, rewritten as YYYY-MM-DD |
| 2 | not given by the source | Reference or check number | Not copied |
| 3 | not given by the source | Amount, signed (negative is money out) | Outflow when the row is money out, Inflow when it is money in; always a positive number |
| 4 | not given by the source | Description | Payee |
| 5 | not given by the source | Memo or note | Memo |
| 6 | not given by the source | Not used | Not copied |
Pitfalls for American Express Canada to YNAB
Dates
- The date must be reordered. The bank file is written month first, then day, then year (MM/DD/YYYY, for example 03/04/2024). The YNAB file is written year first, then month, then day (YYYY-MM-DD, for example 2024-03-04).
- YNAB on dates: not stated on the page; the columns and their reading are confirmed in the import preview. The converter writes year-month-day because it cannot be misread as day/month or month/day. The vendor page does not list accepted date formats, so the user must check the dates in YNAB's preview before importing.
Amounts and their direction
- The bank file has one signed amount column (negative is money out) and the YNAB layout used here has two positive columns. Each amount goes to Outflow or Inflow by its sign, and the minus sign is removed.
- YNAB's own rule: Two positive columns: money out in Outflow, money in in Inflow. A single signed amount column is also accepted: the user selects the same column for both Inflow and Outflow in the import preview, and YNAB reads positive and negative values from it. The preview has a "Swap Inflow and Outflow" option.
- How sure the direction is: it is inferred from the role the open-source importer gives the column; no sample row confirms it. Compare two rows you recognise with the preview before importing; the converter has a switch that flips the sign of every amount.
Shape of the file
- The bank file has no header row: the first line is already a transaction. The YNAB file starts with the header Date,Payee,Memo,Outflow,Inflow.
Other YNAB import rules
- The vendor states it is no longer necessary to format a CSV file before uploading it; columns are matched to fields with dropdown menus after upload.
Before and after: an invented example
Invented sample data. These four rows were made up for this page. They are not from a real American Express Canada export and hold no real account, name or balance.
The source gives column positions only, so the headings below are the column number and what the column holds, not the bank's header text. The 1 unused column of the file is left out of the table.
| 1: transaction date | 2: reference or check number | 3: amount | 4: description | 5: memo or note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03/04/2024 | S0001 | -4.50 | COFFEE CORNER MAIN ST | Card purchase |
| 03/05/2024 | S0002 | 2500.00 | PAYROLL EXAMPLE CO | Salary March |
| 03/07/2024 | S0003 | -1234.56 | RENT MARCH | Standing order |
| 03/11/2024 | S0004 | 15.25 | REFUND EXAMPLE SHOP | Refund |
| Date | Payee | Memo | Outflow | Inflow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-03-04 | COFFEE CORNER MAIN ST | Card purchase | 4.50 | |
| 2024-03-05 | PAYROLL EXAMPLE CO | Salary March | 2500.00 | |
| 2024-03-07 | RENT MARCH | Standing order | 1234.56 | |
| 2024-03-11 | REFUND EXAMPLE SHOP | Refund | 15.25 |
Do it by hand in a spreadsheet, free
These steps need no tool from this site. The cell references follow the column positions of the profile above; if your spreadsheet uses semicolons between formula arguments, replace the commas.
- Open the American Express Canada CSV in a spreadsheet program through its import dialog. Set the date column (column 1) to Text so the program does not reinterpret it, and leave the amount columns as numbers.
- The file has no header row: row 1 is already a transaction. Do not delete it.
- Date: rewrite column A from MM/DD/YYYY to YYYY-MM-DD (03/04/2024 becomes 2024-03-04). In a new column, for the first transaction:
=MID(A1,7,4)&"-"&MID(A1,1,2)&"-"&MID(A1,4,2)This formula reads the date by character position, so it only works while the dates are text and every date has a two-digit day and month. Fill it down. - Amounts: split the signed column into two positive columns. Outflow:
=IF(C1<0,-C1,"")Inflow:=IF(C1<0,"",C1)YNAB's help page also says a single signed column can be selected for both Inflow and Outflow in its import preview, so this step can be skipped there. - Text columns: fill Payee (from column 4); Memo (from column 5). Where several bank columns feed one column, join them with a separator such as " - ".
- Apply YNAB's own rules from its help page: The vendor states it is no longer necessary to format a CSV file before uploading it; columns are matched to fields with dropdown menus after upload.
- Keep only the new columns, put the header row Date,Payee,Memo,Outflow,Inflow on top, save the sheet as a comma-separated CSV, and compare the dates, the direction of the amounts and the number of rows with your statement in YNAB's import preview.
Or use the converter
Load the file, choose the American Express Canada profile in the bank list and the target YNAB, read the preview, then download. The conversion runs locally in your browser: the file is not uploaded, and only the licence key is sent for unlocking.
Paid pack. The American Express Canada profile is one of the 35 profiles unlocked by a licence (9 US dollars, paid once; see the terms). Without a licence you can still convert this file with the free manual column mapper, using the column table on this page, within the free limit of 25 rows per file.
Where this layout comes from
No bank supplied or approved this layout. It was copied on 5 October 2026 from a public open-source importer file kept by volunteers: firefly-iii/import-configurations, file ca/american-express/default.json
The lines used from the source: "headers": false, "date": "m/d/Y", roles: date_transaction, internal_reference, amount, description, note, _ignore
The YNAB rules come from the vendor's own help pages: support.ynab.com/en_us/file-based-import-a-guide-Bkj4Sszyo (named as text, not linked), support.ynab.com/en_us/formatting-a-csv-file-an-overview-BJvczkuRq (named as text, not linked). The official page was fetched and read on the checked date.
Bank formats change. Banks alter their CSV exports without notice and vendors change their import rules, so this mapping can be out of date. If the preview looks wrong, use the manual column mapper.