The short answer
File type: CSV. Required columns: Date, Description, Amount. No optional column is listed. The converter on this site writes a file with the header Date,Description,Amount.
These rules were read on 5 October 2026 from Wave's own help page, named at the end of this page. Vendors change import rules without notice, so compare with the vendor's page before you rely on a detail.
Open the converter Offline free converter
The converter runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded.
Required and optional columns
| Column | Required by Wave | In the file this site writes |
|---|---|---|
| Date | required | yes |
| Description | required | yes |
| Amount | required | yes |
Date and amount conventions
| Rule | What applies to Wave |
|---|---|
| File type | CSV |
| Header row | not stated in the excerpts read; the converter writes one |
| Dates, on the vendor's page | MM/DD/YYYY |
| Dates, in the file this site writes | MM/DD/YYYY, for example 03/04/2024. As stated by the vendor: the date column must be in MM/DD/YYYY format. |
| Amounts, on the vendor's page | Three or four columns: date, description, and the amount either all in one column or one column each for deposits and withdrawals. For credit card statements, purchases must be positive and payments negative. |
| Amounts, in the file this site writes | A single signed Amount column: money out is written as a negative number, money in as a positive number. |
| Header of the file this site writes | Date,Description,Amount |
From a web search excerpt of the vendor's help page (the page itself refuses automated reading; re-check it in a browser): "To import properly, your CSV file must have three or four columns: date, amount of the transaction (all in one column, or one column each for deposits and withdrawals), and description."
A worked example of 3 rows
Invented sample data. These 3 rows were made up for this page. They are not from a real statement and hold no real account, name or balance.
The file the converter on this site writes for Wave from a bank file that has a date, a payee, a memo, a reference and an amount. Dates are written as MM/DD/YYYY.
Date,Description,Amount 03/04/2024,Coffee Corner - Card purchase,-4.50 03/05/2024,Example Co - Salary March,2500.00 03/07/2024,Sample Landlord - Standing order,-1234.56
- Row 1: 4 March 2024, 4.50 of money out. In the file: Date 03/04/2024, Amount -4.50.
- Row 2: 5 March 2024, 2500.00 of money in. In the file: Date 03/05/2024, Amount 2500.00.
- Row 3: 7 March 2024, 1234.56 of money out. In the file: Date 03/07/2024, Amount -1234.56.
The payee, memo and reference of each bank row go to the text columns this layout has; what has no column in it is left out.
Common import errors
Each line pairs a mistake with the rule above that it breaks. This page does not quote Wave's own error messages.
| What goes wrong | The Wave rule behind it |
|---|---|
| A required column is missing or cannot be matched | Required columns: Date, Description, Amount. |
| The first row is read the wrong way: a header taken as a transaction, or a transaction taken as a header | Header row: not stated in the excerpts read; the converter writes one. |
| Dates are refused or read as another day | Dates: MM/DD/YYYY. |
| Money out arrives as money in, or an amount lands in the wrong column | Three or four columns: date, description, and the amount either all in one column or one column each for deposits and withdrawals. For credit card statements, purchases must be positive and payments negative. |
Also stated on Wave's help page
- Keep only the date, amount and description columns; delete any other columns.
- The description column can be empty, but if filled it must contain words, not only numbers.
- Remove special characters such as #, &, $ and * from the file.
- Files with more than 100 rows tend not to upload; split them into files of no more than 100 rows each.
Bank by bank: 40 CSV exports to Wave
One page per bank layout, each with the column mapping from that bank's CSV to the Wave file. The layouts come from public open-source importer files kept by volunteers, not from the banks.
United States (11)
- Chase
- Chase credit card
- Bank of America checking
- Bank of America credit card
- Wells Fargo checking
- Citi
- Capital One credit card
- USAA
- Charles Schwab checking
- Fidelity cash management account
- State Employees' Credit Union (NC SECU)
Canada (11)
- TD Canada Trust
- Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
- Scotiabank chequing
- Scotiabank credit card
- CIBC
- Tangerine
- Simplii Financial
- Desjardins
- Capital One Canada
- American Express Canada
- Wealthsimple
United Kingdom (10)
- Monzo
- Starling Bank
- Barclays
- Barclaycard
- Lloyds Bank
- Halifax
- MBNA
- Tesco Bank
- Marcus by Goldman Sachs
- John Lewis Partnership Card (NewDay)
Australia (5)
United Kingdom and EU (1)
International (2)
Source documents
The official Wave help page "Upload a bank or credit card statement in .csv format", at support.waveapps.com/hc/en-us/articles/208621626-Upload-a-bank-or-credit-card-statement-in-csv-format (named as text, not linked). How it was read on 5 October 2026: search excerpts of the official page; the page refuses automated fetches. 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.
Also read: support.waveapps.com/hc/en-us/articles/208622596 (named as text, not linked).
Import rules of four accounting and budgeting apps, taken from each vendor's own help pages. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by YNAB, Intuit/QuickBooks, Xero or Wave; the names are trademarks of their owners. Vendors change import rules without notice.