How to Import Records in Daily Expense Tracker

Manually adding months of old expenses one by one? Nobody has time for that. Whether you're switching from another budgeting app, catching up on past transactions, or loading a bank export, Daily Expense Tracker's import feature lets you bring in hundreds of records in under a minute.

This guide walks you through the entire process — from preparing your file to reviewing your imported transactions.

What You'll Need

• A CSV, XLS, or XLSX file containing your records (max 10 MB)
• A free account on Daily Expense Tracker

That's it. No special formatting, no rigid templates.

Step 1: Prepare Your File

Your file should have columns for at least:

• Date — when the transaction happened
• Amount — how much was spent or earned

Optional but helpful columns:

• Transaction Type — expense or income
• Category — like Food, Rent, Salary
• Description / Note — for extra context
• Reference Number — to prevent duplicates on re-import

Tip: Most banks let you download statements as CSV. Just log in to your online banking portal and look for an "Export" or "Download" option.

Supported Date Formats

Don't worry about reformatting dates. The importer understands 30+ date formats automatically:

• 2026-03-06 (ISO)
• 06/03/2026 or 03/06/2026
• 06-Mar-2026
• March 6, 2026
• Even Excel serial date numbers

Step 2: Open the Import Modal

From the Dashboard, click the Import button in the bottom toolbar. A modal window will appear with a clean drag-and-drop upload area.

If you've imported before, you'll also see your saved mappings here — more on that in a moment.

Step 3: Upload Your File

Either drag and drop your file onto the upload area or click Browse to select it from your device. The importer will read the file and extract the column headers automatically.

Step 4: Select a Wallet

Choose which wallet you want the imported transactions to go into — Savings, Credit Card, Cash, or any custom wallet you've created.

If you skip this, the importer uses your first wallet by default.

Step 5: Map Your Columns

This is where the magic happens. The importer shows you a mapping screen where you connect your file's column headers to Daily Expense Tracker fields:

Field	Required?	Notes
Transaction Date	Yes	The date column from your file
Amount	Yes	Numeric amount — currency symbols are stripped automatically
Transaction Type	Yes	Map to a column, or set a default (all expenses or all income)
Category	No	Map to a column, or let AI auto-categorize your transactions
Note / Description	No	Any description or memo field
Reference Number	No	Helps prevent duplicate imports

Setting a Default Transaction Type

If your file only contains expenses (or only income), you don't need a type column. Just set the default to Expense or Income and every row will use that.

If your file does have a type column, the importer recognizes keywords like credit, deposit, salary (→ Income) and debit, withdrawal, payment (→ Expense) automatically.

AI Auto-Categorization

Don't have a category column? No problem. Toggle on AI auto-categorize and Daily Expense Tracker will intelligently assign categories based on the transaction description.

Step 6: Save Your Mapping (Optional but Recommended)

If you'll import from the same source again — say, your HDFC or Chase bank statement — give the mapping a name and save it. Next time you upload a file from that bank, just select the saved mapping and skip the entire column-mapping step.

You can manage saved mappings from the upload screen — load, rename, or delete them anytime.

Step 7: Review and Import

The final screen shows a summary of your configuration:

• Columns detected in the file
• Fields you've mapped
• Target wallet

Click Import to start. The importer processes each row, creates the transactions, and updates your wallet balance instantly.

What Happens Behind the Scenes

The importer is designed to be forgiving and smart:

• Empty rows are skipped — rows missing a date or amount are silently ignored, not counted as errors
• Duplicate detection — if a transaction with the same amount, date, and note already exists for your account, it's skipped to prevent double entries
• Reference number checks — if your file has reference numbers, duplicates are caught by those too
• Auto-category creation — if a category in your file doesn't exist yet, it's created automatically
• Currency symbols stripped — amounts like $45.99 or ₹1,200 are parsed correctly

After the Import

Once the import finishes, you'll see a summary:

• Imported count — how many transactions were successfully added
• Failed count — how many rows had issues
• Error details — specific reasons for any failures (like duplicate entries)

Head to your Dashboard to see the imported transactions in your expense list, charts, and wallet balances — all updated in real time.

Common Questions

Can I import from any bank?

Yes. As long as you can download a CSV or Excel file from your bank, it will work. We've tested with statements from major banks across India, the US, UK, and Europe.

What if my file has extra columns?

No problem. Just map the columns you need and ignore the rest. Extra columns are safely skipped.

Can I undo an import?

Every imported transaction can be individually deleted. Use the Trash feature to soft-delete transactions and restore them if needed.

Why are some rows showing as failed?

Usually because of duplicate detection — the transaction already exists. Check the error details for the specific reason.

My CSV isn't working. What should I do?

Make sure it's saved as UTF-8 encoding with comma separators. In Excel: Save As → CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited).

Quick Recap

1. Prepare your CSV/Excel file with date and amount columns
2. Upload the file in the Import modal
3. Select your target wallet
4. Map columns to fields (save the mapping for next time)
5. Import and review the results

That's all there is to it. No manual data entry, no copy-pasting, no headaches.

Ready to import your records? Head to Daily Expense Tracker and try it now — it takes less than a minute.

Happy tracking!