CSV Import - Sure

CSV Import allows you to manually import transaction data from any financial institution that provides CSV exports. This is ideal for banks not supported by Plaid or SimpleFIN, historical data imports, or one-time account migrations.

What You Can Import

Transactions: Date, amount, description, category
Account Statements: Bank statements in CSV format
Credit Card Statements: Transaction history exports
Investment Activity: Trades, dividends (with appropriate column mapping)
Historical Data: Bulk import of past transactions

CSV import is a one-time operation. For ongoing syncing, use Plaid, SimpleFIN, SnapTrade, or Coinbase integrations.

Supported File Types

CSV Files

Standard CSV: Comma-separated values
TSV: Tab-separated values
Any Delimiter: Configure custom delimiters during import
Character Encodings: Automatic detection (UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252, etc.)
Max Size: 5 MB per file

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:74

PDF Statements (AI-Powered)

Bank Statements: Parsed using AI (OpenAI GPT)
Credit Card Statements: Extract transactions from PDF
Max Size: 10 MB per file
Format Validation: Checks for valid PDF headers

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:134

PDF import requires OpenAI API access and will incur AI processing costs. CSV import is free and faster.

Prerequisites

Export from Your Bank

Download a CSV export from your bank’s online portal:

Log into your bank’s website
Navigate to transaction history or statements
Look for “Export” or “Download” button
Select CSV format (if available)
Choose date range for export

Prepare the File

Ensure your CSV contains at minimum:

Date column: Transaction dates
Amount column: Transaction amounts
Description column: Transaction descriptions

Optional columns:

Category, Account, Balance, Check Number, etc.

Importing a CSV File

Navigate to Imports

Go to Settings → Imports
Or navigate directly to /imports/new

Choose Import Type

Select the type of import:

Transaction Import: Most common (bank/credit card transactions)
Other types: May be available depending on configuration

Select Account (Optional)

Choose which Sure account to import into:

Select an existing account
Or create the account first, then import

You can change this later if needed.

Upload CSV File

Click “Choose File” or drag and drop
Select your CSV file
Click “Upload”

The file is processed immediately.

Configure Column Mappings

Map CSV columns to Sure fields:

Date Column: Which column contains transaction dates
Amount Column: Which column contains amounts
Description Column: Which column contains descriptions
Optional Columns: Map category, account, balance, etc.
Date Format: Specify how dates are formatted (MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, etc.)
Amount Format: Positive/negative handling, decimal separator

Preview and Confirm

Review the preview:

First few rows of imported data
Mapped fields and transformations
Any warnings or errors

Make adjustments if needed, then click “Confirm”

Publish Import

Click “Publish” to create transactions:

Import runs in the background
Progress is shown in real-time
You’ll be notified when complete

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:44

Column Mapping Guide

Required Fields

Sure Field	Description	Example CSV Values
Date	Transaction date	`2024-01-15`, `01/15/2024`, `15-Jan-2024`
Amount	Transaction amount	`123.45`, `-50.00`, `1,234.56`
Description	Transaction description	`WALMART #5123`, `Coffee Shop`

Optional Fields

Sure Field	Description	Example CSV Values
Category	Transaction category	`Groceries`, `Dining`, `Transport`
Account	Account identifier	`Checking`, `Savings`, `*1234`
Balance	Running balance	`5,432.10`
Notes	Additional notes	`Business expense`
Check Number	Check number	`1001`, `1002`
Type	Transaction type	`debit`, `credit`, `withdrawal`

Amount Handling

Positive/Negative Convention:

Some banks export debits as negative, credits as positive
Others export all as positive with a separate Type column
Configure during column mapping step

Decimal Separator:

, (comma): European format → 1.234,56
. (period): US format → 1,234.56

Currency:

Stripped during import (e.g., $123.45 → 123.45)
Account currency determines final currency

Date Format Detection

Sure attempts to auto-detect date formats, but you can specify:

MM/DD/YYYY - US format (e.g., 12/31/2024)
DD/MM/YYYY - European format (e.g., 31/12/2024)
YYYY-MM-DD - ISO format (e.g., 2024-12-31)
DD-MMM-YYYY - Text month (e.g., 31-Dec-2024)

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:68

Import Templates

Sure can detect and suggest import templates for common banks:

Chase Bank: Predefined column mappings
Bank of America: Predefined column mappings
Wells Fargo: Predefined column mappings
Custom Templates: Create your own for reuse

If a template is detected:

You’ll see a “Template Suggested” badge
Click “Apply Template” to auto-configure column mappings
Review and adjust if needed

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:110

PDF Import (AI-Powered)

Import transactions directly from PDF bank statements using AI:

Upload PDF

Navigate to Imports → New
Select your PDF bank statement
Upload (max 10 MB)

AI Processing

Sure sends the PDF to OpenAI GPT:

Extracts transaction data
Parses dates, amounts, descriptions
Returns structured data

This can take 30-60 seconds depending on file size.

Review Extracted Data

Review AI-extracted transactions:

Check for parsing errors
Verify amounts and dates
Assign to correct account

Publish

Click “Publish” to create transactions.

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:133

AI extraction is not 100% accurate. Always review extracted data before publishing.

Character Encoding

Sure automatically detects file encoding using the rchardet gem:

UTF-8 (most common)
ISO-8859-1 (Latin-1)
Windows-1252 (Windows Western European)
UTF-16
Others

If your file has encoding issues (garbled characters), try:

Re-exporting from your bank with UTF-8 encoding
Opening the file in Excel and saving as “CSV UTF-8”
Using a text editor to convert encoding

Source: Gemfile:74

Managing Imports

Viewing Import History

All imports are tracked:

Go to Settings → Imports
View list of all imports with:
- Status (pending, processing, completed, failed)
- Import date
- Number of transactions
- Associated account

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:30

Reverting an Import

If you imported incorrect data:

Find the Import

Navigate to Settings → Imports and locate the import to revert.

Revert

Click on the import
Click “Revert Import”
Confirm

Background Processing

The revert runs in the background:

Deletes all transactions created by this import
Restores account balances
Marks import as reverted

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:105

Reverting an import is irreversible. Make sure you want to delete all imported transactions.

Deleting an Import

To permanently delete an import record:

Navigate to the import
Click “Delete”
Confirm deletion

This removes:

The import record
Associated file uploads
Does NOT delete transactions (use Revert first if needed)

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:118

Troubleshooting

”File Too Large”

Cause: CSV exceeds 5 MB (or PDF exceeds 10 MB). Solution:

Split the file into smaller date ranges
Import multiple smaller files sequentially

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:74, 134

”Invalid File Type”

Cause: File is not a valid CSV or PDF. Solution:

Ensure file extension is .csv or .pdf
Check that CSV uses standard delimiters (comma, tab)
Verify PDF is not corrupted

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:79, 54

”Unable to Parse Dates”

Cause: Date format not recognized. Solution:

Check your date format (MM/DD/YYYY vs DD/MM/YYYY)
Manually specify date format in column mapping
Ensure dates are in a single column (not split across multiple)

“Duplicate Transactions”

Cause: Importing the same data multiple times. Solution:

Sure does not auto-detect duplicates for CSV imports
Manually mark duplicates in transaction view
Or revert the incorrect import first

”Garbled Characters”

Cause: Character encoding mismatch. Solution:

Re-export CSV as UTF-8 from your bank
Open in Excel → Save As → CSV UTF-8
Or use a text editor to convert encoding

Source: Gemfile:74

”Max Row Count Exceeded”

Cause: Import contains too many rows. Solution: Split into multiple smaller imports. Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:26

Best Practices

One Import Per Statement: Import one bank statement at a time
Date Ranges: Don’t overlap date ranges between imports
Review Before Publishing: Always preview data before finalizing
Save Templates: Create templates for banks you import from frequently
UTF-8 Encoding: Always export CSVs as UTF-8 when possible
Backup First: Export existing Sure data before large imports
Test with Small File: Test with a few rows first, then import full file

Alternative: Use Integrations

For ongoing syncing, consider using automated integrations instead:

Plaid

Automated bank syncing for 12,000+ institutions

SimpleFIN

Privacy-focused alternative for US banks

CSV import is best for:

One-time historical imports
Unsupported banks
Manual accounts with occasional data entry
Testing and development

API Reference

Creating an Import

# Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:66
import = Current.family.imports.create!(
  type: "TransactionImport",
  account: account,
  date_format: Current.family.date_format
)
import.update!(raw_file_str: file.read)

Publishing an Import

# Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:23
import.publish_later  # Runs in background via Sidekiq

Reverting an Import

# Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:105
import.revert_later  # Runs in background

File Size Limits

# Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb
Import::MAX_CSV_SIZE = 5.megabytes   # 5 MB
Import::MAX_PDF_SIZE = 10.megabytes  # 10 MB

Allowed MIME Types

Import::ALLOWED_CSV_MIME_TYPES = [
  "text/csv",
  "text/plain",
  "application/csv",
  "application/vnd.ms-excel"
]

Import::ALLOWED_PDF_MIME_TYPES = [
  "application/pdf"
]

Source: app/controllers/imports_controller.rb:54, 79

Additional Resources

Transaction Management

Learn about managing imported transactions

Account Reconciliation

Reconcile imported transactions with bank statements

Get Started

Self-Hosting

Core Features

Integrations

Mobile App

​What You Can Import

​Supported File Types

​CSV Files

​PDF Statements (AI-Powered)

​Prerequisites

​Importing a CSV File

​Column Mapping Guide

​Required Fields

​Optional Fields

​Amount Handling

​Date Format Detection

​Import Templates

​PDF Import (AI-Powered)

​Character Encoding

​Managing Imports

​Viewing Import History

​Reverting an Import

​Deleting an Import

​Troubleshooting

​”File Too Large”

​”Invalid File Type”

​”Unable to Parse Dates”

​“Duplicate Transactions”

​”Garbled Characters”

​”Max Row Count Exceeded”

​Best Practices

​Alternative: Use Integrations

Plaid

SimpleFIN

​API Reference

​Creating an Import

​Publishing an Import

​Reverting an Import

​File Size Limits

​Allowed MIME Types

​Additional Resources

Transaction Management

Account Reconciliation

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What You Can Import

Supported File Types

CSV Files

PDF Statements (AI-Powered)

Prerequisites

Importing a CSV File

Column Mapping Guide

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Amount Handling

Date Format Detection

Import Templates

PDF Import (AI-Powered)

Character Encoding

Managing Imports

Viewing Import History

Reverting an Import

Deleting an Import

Troubleshooting

”File Too Large”

”Invalid File Type”

”Unable to Parse Dates”

“Duplicate Transactions”

”Garbled Characters”

”Max Row Count Exceeded”

Best Practices

Alternative: Use Integrations

API Reference

Creating an Import

Publishing an Import

Reverting an Import

File Size Limits

Allowed MIME Types

Additional Resources