The short answer
The Monzo file has 20 columns, dates written as DD/MM/YYYY and one signed amount column. The CSV written for Xero has the columns Date,Amount,Payee,Description,Reference. So the date is kept as it is, the amount is written as one signed number, and the text columns are moved as in the table below.
Free. The Monzo profile is one of the 5 free profiles of the converter. The free version writes the first 25 converted rows of a file; the 9 USD one-time licence removes that limit.
The converter runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded.
What the Monzo CSV looks like
- Country: United Kingdom.
- Account type: current account.
- Header row: yes, one row before the first transaction.
- Columns: 20, separated by commas.
- Date format: DD/MM/YYYY, for example 04/03/2024 (the source writes it as %d/%m/%Y).
- Amounts: one signed amount column. Evidence for the direction: a sample row in the source shows it.
- Header text: the source prints it, so the columns below carry their real names.
Note kept with this layout in the profile data: Twenty columns. The signed Amount column is used; Money Out and Money In repeat it as two columns. Older exports differ: the Firefly III config lists 18 columns ending in separate money-out and money-in columns, and bank2ynab lists a 12-column export with ISO timestamps. If the header does not match, fall back to manual mapping.
What Xero accepts
- File type: CSV.
- Header row: optional; the vendor says a file can be imported without headings but named columns are easier to map.
- Required columns: Date, Amount.
- Optional columns: Payee, Description, Reference, Check Number.
- Amounts: One signed Amount column for both income and expenses. Income is positive; expenses are negative, written with a leading minus sign or in brackets, for example -30.00 or (30.00). Commas must not be used as the decimal mark.
- Dates: one of the date formats Xero lists on the page; the list could not be read on the checked date.
| Xero column | Required by Xero | Filled from the Monzo file |
|---|---|---|
| Date | required | column 2 "Date" |
| Amount | required | column 8 "Amount" |
| Payee | optional | column 5 "Name" |
| Description | optional | column 15 "Description" and column 12 "Notes and #tags" |
| Reference | optional | column 1 "Transaction ID" |
From a web search excerpt of the vendor's help page (the page itself refuses automated reading; re-check it in a browser): "Show income as positive amounts and expenses as negative amounts using a negative sign in front of the amount or with brackets, for example -30.00 or (30.00)."
Column-by-column mapping
Every column of the Monzo file, left to right, and where it ends up in the Xero file.
| Column | Header text | What it holds | Where it goes in the Xero file |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transaction ID | Reference or check number | Reference |
| 2 | Date | Transaction date | Date, rewritten as DD/MM/YYYY |
| 3 | Time | Not used | Not copied |
| 4 | Type | Not used | Not copied |
| 5 | Name | Payee or counterparty | Payee |
| 6 | Emoji | Not used | Not copied |
| 7 | Category | Category | Not copied |
| 8 | Amount | Amount, signed (negative is money out) | Amount, sign kept (money out is negative) |
| 9 | Currency | Currency | Not copied |
| 10 | Local amount | Not used | Not copied |
| 11 | Local currency | Not used | Not copied |
| 12 | Notes and #tags | Memo or note | Description, after the bank's description text |
| 13 | Address | Not used | Not copied |
| 14 | Receipt | Not used | Not copied |
| 15 | Description | Description | Description |
| 16 | Category split | Not used | Not copied |
| 17 | Money Out | Not used | Not copied |
| 18 | Money In | Not used | Not copied |
| 19 | Balance | Running balance | Not copied |
| 20 | Balance currency | Not used | Not copied |
Pitfalls for Monzo to Xero
Dates
- Same date layout on both sides: the bank file and the Xero file both use DD/MM/YYYY. No reordering is needed.
- Xero on dates: one of the date formats Xero lists on the page; the list could not be read on the checked date. The converter offers dd/mm/yyyy and mm/dd/yyyy and the user picks the one that matches the Xero organisation's region, then confirms the dates on Xero's column-mapping screen.
Amounts and their direction
- Both sides use one signed amount column where money out is negative, so the sign is kept as it is.
- Xero's own rule: One signed Amount column for both income and expenses. Income is positive; expenses are negative, written with a leading minus sign or in brackets, for example -30.00 or (30.00). Commas must not be used as the decimal mark.
- How sure the direction is: a sample row in the source shows it.
Shape of the file
- Quoting: not stated by source (the sample row in the source is unquoted).
Other Xero import rules
- Only the Date and Amount fields are needed to create bank statement lines.
- Payee is recommended; if the payee is an existing contact, the name must match the contact name exactly to avoid duplicates.
Before and after: an invented example
Invented sample data. These four rows were made up for this page. They are not from a real Monzo export and hold no real account, name or balance.
The column headings are the header text the source prints. The 11 unused columns of the file are left out of the table.
| 1: Transaction ID | 2: Date | 5: Name | 7: Category | 8: Amount | 9: Currency | 12: Notes and #tags | 15: Description | 19: Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S0001 | 04/03/2024 | Coffee Corner | Eating out | -4.50 | GBP | Card purchase | COFFEE CORNER MAIN ST | 995.50 |
| S0002 | 05/03/2024 | Example Co | Income | 2500.00 | GBP | Salary March | PAYROLL EXAMPLE CO | 3495.50 |
| S0003 | 07/03/2024 | Sample Landlord | Housing | -1234.56 | GBP | Standing order | RENT MARCH | 2260.94 |
| S0004 | 11/03/2024 | Example Shop | Shopping | 15.25 | GBP | Refund | REFUND EXAMPLE SHOP | 2276.19 |
| Date | Amount | Payee | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/03/2024 | -4.50 | Coffee Corner | COFFEE CORNER MAIN ST - Card purchase | S0001 |
| 05/03/2024 | 2500.00 | Example Co | PAYROLL EXAMPLE CO - Salary March | S0002 |
| 07/03/2024 | -1234.56 | Sample Landlord | RENT MARCH - Standing order | S0003 |
| 11/03/2024 | 15.25 | Example Shop | REFUND EXAMPLE SHOP - Refund | S0004 |
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 Monzo CSV in a spreadsheet program through its import dialog. Set the date column (column 2 "Date") to Text so the program does not reinterpret it, and leave the amount columns as numbers.
- Row 1 is the header and the transactions start in row 2.
- Date: the bank already writes DD/MM/YYYY, which is what the Xero file uses. Copy column B as it is.
- Amounts: column H is already signed the way Xero wants (money out negative). Copy it as it is.
- Text columns: fill Payee (from column 5 "Name"); Description (from column 15 "Description" and column 12 "Notes and #tags"); Reference (from column 1 "Transaction ID"). Where several bank columns feed one column, join them with a separator such as " - ".
- Apply Xero's own rules from its help page: Only the Date and Amount fields are needed to create bank statement lines. Payee is recommended; if the payee is an existing contact, the name must match the contact name exactly to avoid duplicates.
- Keep only the new columns, put the header row Date,Amount,Payee,Description,Reference 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 Xero's import preview.
Or use the converter
Load the file, choose the Monzo profile in the bank list and the target Xero, 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.
Free. The Monzo profile is one of the 5 free profiles of the converter. The free version writes the first 25 converted rows of a file; the 9 USD one-time licence removes that limit.
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: simonmichael/hledger, file examples/csv/banking/monzo.csv.rules
Also read: firefly-iii/import-configurations, file gb/monzo/default.json
The lines used from the source: header in a comment: Transaction ID,Date,Time,Type,Name,Emoji,Category,Amount,Currency,Local amount,Local currency,Notes and #tags,Address,Receipt,Description,Category split,Money Out,Money In,Balance,Balance currency ; sample row amount -13.75 for a card payment
The Xero rules come from the vendor's own help pages: central.xero.com/s/article/Import-a-CSV-bank-statement (named as text, not linked). The official page refuses automated fetches (HTTP 403 or a script-only page), so the rules were read from web search excerpts of that same official URL on the checked date. Re-check in a browser before relying on a detail.
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.
Related pages
Monzo to other apps
The Monzo guides for YNAB, QuickBooks Online and Wave, in the bank list