The short answer
The Wells Fargo file has 5 columns, dates written as MM/DD/YYYY and one signed amount column. The CSV written for Xero has the columns Date,Amount,Payee,Description,Reference. So the date is rewritten as DD/MM/YYYY, the amount is written as one signed number, and the text columns are moved as in the table below.
Free. The Wells Fargo 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 Wells Fargo CSV looks like
- Country: United States.
- Account type: checking.
- Header row: none. The first line is a transaction.
- Columns: 5, 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: a sample row in the source shows 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. Column 3 holds an asterisk status mark, column 4 the check number. The second source agrees: headers false, roles date_transaction, amount, _ignore, _ignore, description. Accept dates with or without leading zeros.
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 Wells Fargo file |
|---|---|---|
| Date | required | column 1 |
| Amount | required | column 2 |
| Payee | optional | left empty: the bank file has no payee column |
| Description | optional | column 5 |
| Reference | optional | column 4 |
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 Wells Fargo 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 | not given by the source | Transaction date | Date, rewritten as DD/MM/YYYY |
| 2 | not given by the source | Amount, signed (negative is money out) | Amount, sign kept (money out is negative) |
| 3 | not given by the source | Not used | Not copied |
| 4 | not given by the source | Reference or check number | Reference |
| 5 | not given by the source | Description | Description |
Pitfalls for Wells Fargo to Xero
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 Xero file is written day first, then month, then year (DD/MM/YYYY, for example 04/03/2024). This is the mistake that does not show: 03/04/2024 is 4 Mar in the bank file, and read the other way round it is 3 Apr. Days from 13 to 31 fail loudly, days from 1 to 12 swap silently.
- 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
- The bank file has no header row: the first line is already a transaction. The Xero file starts with the header Date,Amount,Payee,Description,Reference.
- Quoting: every field in double quotes (sample row in the source).
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 Wells Fargo 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: amount | 4: reference or check number | 5: description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/04/2024 | -4.50 | S0001 | COFFEE CORNER MAIN ST |
| 03/05/2024 | 2500.00 | S0002 | PAYROLL EXAMPLE CO |
| 03/07/2024 | -1234.56 | S0003 | RENT MARCH |
| 03/11/2024 | 15.25 | S0004 | REFUND EXAMPLE SHOP |
| Date | Amount | Payee | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/03/2024 | -4.50 | COFFEE CORNER MAIN ST | S0001 | |
| 05/03/2024 | 2500.00 | PAYROLL EXAMPLE CO | S0002 | |
| 07/03/2024 | -1234.56 | RENT MARCH | S0003 | |
| 11/03/2024 | 15.25 | REFUND EXAMPLE SHOP | 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 Wells Fargo 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 DD/MM/YYYY (03/04/2024 becomes 04/03/2024). In a new column, for the first transaction:
=MID(A1,4,2)&"/"&MID(A1,1,2)&"/"&MID(A1,7,4)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: column B is already signed the way Xero wants (money out negative). Copy it as it is.
- Text columns: fill Payee (left empty: the bank file has no payee column); Description (from column 5); Reference (from column 4). 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 Wells Fargo 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 Wells Fargo 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/wellsfargo-checking.csv.rules
Also read: firefly-iii/import-configurations, file us/wellsfargo/default.json
The lines used from the source: skip 0 ; sample row in a comment: "03/01/2016","-150.00","*","","RECURRING TRANSFER TO ... SAVINGS"
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
Wells Fargo to other apps
The Wells Fargo guides for YNAB, QuickBooks Online and Wave, in the bank list