Import entries from CSV

What is this?

With CSV import you read entries from a spreadsheet file into your cashbook. Useful for initial setup, back-filling historical data or batch-importing larger lists. Chorilo supports CSV files from most bank online portals, from Excel or from old accounting systems.

Typical use cases:

• Initial setup — switch from an Excel cashbook to Chorilo, including old entries
• Back-fill bank transactions — older than 90 days, therefore no longer available via PSD2
• Donation batch import — e.g. after a crowdfunding campaign with an external platform
• Account without PSD2 — load transactions manually downloaded from online banking
• Data migration — switch from old club software to Chorilo

How to import a CSV file

1. Prepare the CSV — preferably with columns date, amount, purpose, recipient.
2. Open Administration > Cashbook > Import.
3. Choose the account to which the entries should be written.
4. Upload the CSV file (or drag and drop it in).
5. Map the CSV columns to Chorilo fields (date → date, amount → amount, etc.).
6. Choose the date format of the CSV (DD.MM.YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD or others).
7. Click Preview.
8. Check the preview — Chorilo shows detected entries, marked duplicates and any errors.
9. Click Start import when everything fits.
10. Wait for the confirmation — you see how many entries were imported and how many skipped.

Column mapping

Required fields:

• Date — when the entry took place
• Amount — positive for income, negative for expense (or separate columns)
• Purpose/description

Optional fields:

• Recipient/sender — member name, supplier, bank
• Category — Chorilo automatically suggests if the value matches an existing category
• Bank reference — on bank exports for duplicate detection

Duplicate handling

Chorilo automatically detects when a row already exists as an entry (same day, same amount, same purpose). In the preview you see:

• Green — new entry, will be imported
• Yellow — suspected duplicate, you decide
• Red — error in the row (e.g. invalid date), will be skipped

Permission

You need cashbook.edit to perform imports.

Tips

• Before big imports, run a test with only 5 to 10 rows to check the column mapping.
• Recalculate the balance after import — that way you spot deviations from the real bank balance immediately.
• For bank CSV files check your online banking export settings — some offer clean standard formats, others need preparation in Excel.
• Do not import entries from closed periods — that does not work. First do the current period, then close it if needed.
• On migration from an old system: for safety take the last balance of the old system as the opening balance of the account in Chorilo and import only entries from the switch date — that is cleaner than copying the whole history.