Xero CSV checker

How to check your CSV

Once you load or paste your CSV, you'll confirm its separator, header, columns, date order and number format. You'll also choose a covered Xero region and output date order, but the region doesn't determine your bank's date order.

With month/day/year and decimal-point input selected, 03/02/2026 becomes 2026/03/02 and (1,150.00) becomes -1150.00. Your original stays visible. Output has one Date and one Amount column, plus any optional fields you map.

The report shows every changed value and omitted column so you can review the mapping and changes before approving a download. It never deletes transactions automatically, even blank or zero-value records. If you make edits, use your working copy and recheck it.

What a passing result tells you

The checker covers CSV structure, required mapping, calendar dates, numeric amounts, zero-value rows, repeated headers, subtotal/balance labels, Reference and check/cheque number lengths, encoding warnings and possible identical exported rows in this file. Decimal arithmetic is exact, without rounding. If text looks like a formula, the proposed export and report show it with a visible apostrophe prefix.

The checker can't see your Xero account, contact names, bank feed or earlier imports, or judge payment signs from descriptions. Passing doesn't guarantee Xero will accept the file: account type, permissions, saved import settings and existing statement lines still matter.

Opening/closing and running balances aren't checked here, so you'll need the statement balance checker separately for those. Format checks, statement arithmetic, bookkeeping reconciliation and document authenticity answer different questions. This tool proves neither the books nor the document.

Files the checker can handle

The checker accepts UTF-8 CSV/text up to 5 MB, one account at a time. If years are shorter, expand them to four digits using the statement. Dates can be compact with a four-digit year at the end, numeric with separators or spaces, or use English month names. Your date-order choice also applies to compact dates, so choose DMY for Xero's documented DDMMYYYY. The checker never guesses a century, CR/DR meaning or missing transaction.

Downloads stop at 1,000 transaction records. Xero's CSV guide rules out files above 100,000 rows, but its troubleshooting guide says to split above 1,000 transactions. Hubdoc describes 1,000-transaction output batches. We follow the smaller limit, so larger files aren't promised to work. These Xero pages gave no CSV byte-size limit. The 5 MB limit is ours.

Output uses decimal points without thousands separators or currency decoration. For decimal-comma input, select that format explicitly so the checker can convert it. If your file has split debit/credit columns, use the debit/credit converter first. If signs are mixed, check them against the source rather than blindly reversing them.

Unicode text stays, so don't remove accents or non-Roman text to pass. Control and replacement characters block the check because we can't safely tell what they mean, not because Xero documents every one as forbidden. Xero warns that some non-Roman characters may not be fully supported. Excel's Unicode Text route imports directly into Xero, but this UTF-8 checker can't read its UTF-16 text. Formula-protection prefixes can affect imported text and contact matching, so inspect them in Xero.

Your CSV stays in your browser

The tool reads your file in this browser tab without content-bearing network requests, uploads, analytics events or storage writes. Contents stay in memory while the page is open. Clear contents removes the active input, but your browser manages temporary memory and may keep page state during navigation. A download saves only the file you request to your device; your original is never overwritten.

The separate PDF converter uploads files; it isn't part of this tool. A bank-native CSV, Xero's available statement-import options or Hubdoc may already do what you need.

Sources checked October 17, 2026

We opened and expanded Xero Central's US CSV guide, then read the Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand editions through its region selector. The date and sign rules matched, though the field is Check in the US and Cheque in the other four. Other regions aren't covered.

Date and Amount are required, while Payee is recommended. Description, Reference, Check/Cheque number, Analysis code and Transaction Type are optional. These names aren't mandatory: Xero allows custom headers, headerless files and manual mapping. Its downloadable US template marks required headings *Date and *Amount.

The import error guide gives the 1,000-transaction guidance, zero-value restriction and 255-character Reference / 20-character check-number limits. The non-Roman character guide explains the Unicode caveat. Hubdoc extraction guidance describes a native PDF-to-CSV alternative. We checked these pages, but didn't test a live import. This isn't an endorsement.

This independent tool is not affiliated with or endorsed by Xero.