FreeAgent bank statement CSV: the exact format, free templates, and how to upload
FreeAgent takes bank statements as OFX, QIF or CSV files. CSV is the one that needs work: FreeAgent wants exactly three columns in a fixed order, UK-style dd/mm/yyyy dates, one amount column for money in and out, and no header row, which is the opposite of what most bank downloads look like. Here's the exact CSV format FreeAgent needs, how to upload it, how to get PDF statements in, and two free templates with known totals so you can check an upload before you trust it.
Short answer: a FreeAgent bank statement CSV has three columns and no header row: A the date as dd/mm/yyyy, B the amount to 2 decimal places with a minus sign for money paid out, C a description. No commas in the amount, no quote marks, one line per description, saved as .csv. Then go to Banking → Bank Accounts, choose the account, select Upload Statement, then Select a file and Upload Statement. If your bank offers OFX or QIF, use that instead and skip the formatting. Free templates: a checking CSV (31 fictional transactions) and a credit card CSV (21).
See the statement behind the template
Open Utilly's fictional September 2026 checking statement: every line, the balance check from 12,418.36 to 13,440.52, and the CSV download. Free, because the data is made up. The checking template holds those 31 lines, so you know exactly what an upload should bring in.
1. The templates
FreeAgent's article links its own small CSV template. The files here follow the same rules, with a full month of realistic lines and totals you can check. Like FreeAgent's template, they have no header row, because FreeAgent's checklist says "you haven't included a header row". No sign-up.
| File | What's in it | Use it when | Known totals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checking CSV | The 31 lines of Utilly's fictional checking statement | Seeing what a file FreeAgent accepts looks like next to your bank's download | 20 paid out 28,575.27; 11 paid in 29,597.43; net +1,022.16 |
| Credit card CSV | The 21 lines of the matching fictional card statement, by date | Testing a credit card account: purchases negative, the payment and a return positive | 19 charges 1,939.94; 2 credits 1,542.18; net −397.76 |
The rows are written from Utilly's fictional sample statements (explained on sample bank statement PDF), read by the same engine Utilly's converters use, so they can't drift from the PDFs. Commas and quote marks are taken out of the descriptions, as FreeAgent's checklist asks. The checking file starts like this (about 1.4 KB in all):
01/09/2026,-6420.18,ACH DEBIT GUSTO PAYROLL 0912 01/09/2026,3184.27,STRIPE TRANSFER ST-K2M8Q4 02/09/2026,-1850.00,CHECK 2041 02/09/2026,-412.66,ACH DEBIT AUSTIN ENERGY UTIL 03/09/2026,-86.43,POS PURCHASE OFFICE DEPOT #1123
Don't upload the templates into a real business bank account: they are FICTIONAL DATA FOR DEMONSTRATION ONLY. Use them to compare layouts, or try them in a test account and then undo the upload.
2. The CSV format FreeAgent needs
FreeAgent's Format a CSV file to upload a bank statement article says you need "three columns in the following order":
| Column | Holds | FreeAgent's rule | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Date | "use the date format dd/mm/yyyy" | 01/09/2026 (1 September) |
| B | Amount | "formatted as 'number' to 2 decimal places." One column for money in and out: "Transactions for money paid out should have minus signs (-) in front of them." | -6420.18, 3184.27 |
| C | Description | "include the invoice reference or a brief description." | STRIPE TRANSFER ST-K2M8Q4 |
Before uploading, FreeAgent's checklist asks you to check:
- "you haven’t included a header row"
- "the date format is dd/mm/yyyy"
- "you've used a single column for the transaction amounts (column B) that contains both money paid out and money paid in"
- "there are no commas in the 'amount' column" (so
1234.56, not1,234.56) - "you haven't included any quote marks (")"
- "each description is on a single line with no carriage returns"
- "the file is saved with the extension .csv (not .xls or .xlsx)"
The separator must be a comma: "FreeAgent only supports CSV files with a character delimiter of comma ','." Outside the UK, a spreadsheet may save with semicolons instead; FreeAgent's article explains how to change the list separator in Windows and Mac regional settings. You also need "level 6 access or above" to your FreeAgent account to upload a CSV.
3. How to upload the statement
From FreeAgent's How to upload bank transactions from a bank statement article:
- Pick the date range. If the account already has transactions, FreeAgent says "make sure that the statement is dated from the day after the last transaction's date"; if it has none, you might start from your FreeAgent start date.
- Go to the Banking tab and select Bank Accounts.
- Choose the bank account you're uploading into, then select Upload Statement.
- Select Select a file and choose the .csv (or .ofx / .qif) file.
- Leave Guess explanations for my transactions ticked if you want FreeAgent to try to explain lines from what's already in your account, or untick it.
- Select Upload Statement.
To see what came in, pick Latest Statement Upload in the date filter above the transactions. Then explain each transaction as usual. If you let FreeAgent guess, its help says "We recommend that you review each explanation guessed by FreeAgent to ensure its accuracy." On overlaps, FreeAgent says it "will aim to spot any duplicate transactions and ignore them", but uploading only from the day after the last transaction is the safer habit.
4. Fixing your bank's CSV
A bank's CSV download almost never matches FreeAgent's layout as it is. In a spreadsheet:
| Your bank's file has | Change it to |
|---|---|
| A header row (Date, Description, Amount…) | Delete it. The first line must be a transaction. |
| Columns in another order, or extra columns (Balance, Type, Reference) | Keep only date, amount, description, in that order (A, B, C). |
| Separate Paid out / Paid in (or Debit / Credit) columns | One amount column: paid in as positive, paid out as negative. In a spare column, =PaidIn-PaidOut with the cells for that row, then copy it in as values. |
Dates like 2026-09-01 or 09/01/2026 (US month first) | dd/mm/yyyy: 01/09/2026. In Excel, format the date column as a custom dd/mm/yyyy before saving as CSV. |
Amounts like 1,234.56 or £1,234.56 | 1234.56: no thousands commas, no currency symbol, 2 decimal places. |
| Quote marks or commas inside descriptions | Remove them (find and replace), and keep each description on one line. |
Then save as CSV (comma delimited), not .xlsx. Open the .csv in a text editor to be sure: every line should look like 01/09/2026,-6420.18,ACH DEBIT GUSTO PAYROLL 0912.
5. OFX and QIF: skip the formatting
FreeAgent "accepts electronic statements in one of three formats": OFX, QIF ("an older format") and CSV, "for some other banks that don't support OFX or QIF". OFX and QIF need no reformatting, so use them when your bank offers them. FreeAgent notes: "You might see OFX referred to as Quickbooks, Microsoft Money 2005 or Sage Line 50. QIF is sometimes called Quicken 98 or 2000, or Microsoft Money 2003." Its formats article lists which UK banks offer OFX or QIF downloads. PDF isn't one of the three formats.
6. PDF statements and older history
Many banks only offer a limited window of OFX or CSV downloads. Older months, a closed account, or statements your bank only sends as PDFs need converting first. Two routes:
- PDF → OFX (no spreadsheet work): convert the PDF statement to OFX and upload the .ofx file in FreeAgent.
- PDF → CSV: convert the PDF statement to CSV. Utilly's clean CSV has a header row and Date (year first), Description, Amount and Balance columns, with one signed Amount. For FreeAgent: delete the header row and the Balance column, move Amount before Description, and change the dates to dd/mm/yyyy, as in step 4.
Either way, the converter checks that the opening balance plus the lines equals the closing balance before you download, so a dropped line shows up before it reaches FreeAgent. Each statement is one upload into one bank account.
7. Credit card accounts
FreeAgent's CSV rule is the same for every account: money paid out has a minus sign. The credit card template treats each purchase and the interest charge as money paid out (negative), and the card payment and a return as money paid in (positive). If a card file comes in the wrong way round, FreeAgent has a fix: with that bank account open, "select the 'More' button and choose 'Switch money in/out'". It reverses only the unexplained lines of the latest upload: "Explained transactions will never be reversed."
8. Checking the upload against known totals
After uploading a template into a test account, filter on Latest Statement Upload and compare:
| Template | Lines | Paid out | Paid in | Net | Statement balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checking | 31 | 28,575.27 (20) | 29,597.43 (11) | +1,022.16 | 12,418.36 → 13,440.52 |
| Credit card | 21 | 1,939.94 (19) | 1,542.18 (2) | −397.76 (397.76 more owed) | owed 2,846.12 → 3,243.88 |
For your own statements, the same check is what FreeAgent's bank reconciliation does: "The Bank Reconciliation report checks that the balance on your bank statement matches the bank balance in your accounts." FreeAgent's balance is the opening balance you entered plus the transactions, so if it doesn't match, check the opening balance, transactions dated before your FreeAgent start date, missing lines and duplicates. More on tracking down a difference: finding bank reconciliation discrepancies.
9. Problems and fixes
| Problem | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| The upload fails or the file isn't accepted | Go through the checklist: a header row, US or year-first dates, commas in amounts, quote marks, or a file saved as .xlsx. FreeAgent's own advice: "If you're using a .CSV file, please check it has been formatted correctly before trying to upload the statement again." |
| Everything is in one column, or the upload sees one field | The file was saved with semicolons. Change the list separator to a comma (FreeAgent's article covers Windows and Mac regional settings) and save again. |
| Days and months swapped (1 September shows as 9 January) | The dates were month first. Reformat column A to dd/mm/yyyy, undo the upload and upload again. |
| Money in and money out reversed | Use More → Switch money in/out on the account (unexplained lines of the latest upload only). |
| Wrong file or wrong account | Banking → Bank Accounts → the account → More → Undo last upload, then Delete these transactions. FreeAgent warns that attachments on explained transactions in that statement "will be deleted also", and repeated undos go "in reverse order". |
| Duplicate lines after an overlapping upload | Upload from the day after the last transaction next time; delete or match any duplicates FreeAgent didn't catch. |
| A PDF statement | FreeAgent doesn't take PDFs. Convert it to OFX or CSV first (step 6). |
Moving to or from Xero too? Xero's CSV template is different (a header row and its own columns): Xero CSV import template. QuickBooks Online: QuickBooks Online CSV import template.
Get PDF statements into FreeAgent
PDF statements, downloaded or scanned, get a free preview with the balance check, no sign-up. Download OFX to upload as it is, or a clean CSV with one signed Amount column to rearrange into FreeAgent's three columns. Files are processed in memory and not stored.
Utilly isn't affiliated with FreeAgent. The rules, steps and quotes above are from FreeAgent's help articles, checked November 11, 2026; the templates weren't uploaded into a live FreeAgent account, and screens may change. Sources: Format a CSV file to upload a bank statement, Upload bank transactions from a bank statement, Which bank statement formats does FreeAgent support?, Undo a bank statement upload, Reverse money in and money out, Match your FreeAgent bank balance. If a screen differs, follow FreeAgent's current help.
FAQ
What CSV format does FreeAgent need for a bank statement?
Three columns in this order and no header row: column A the date as dd/mm/yyyy, column B the amount to 2 decimal places in one column for money in and out, with a minus sign for money paid out, and column C a description. No commas in the amount, no quote marks, each description on one line, saved as .csv.
Does a FreeAgent CSV need a header row?
No. FreeAgent's checklist says to check you haven't included a header row, so the first line of the file must be a transaction. Delete the header from your bank's download before uploading.
How do I upload a bank statement to FreeAgent?
Go to Banking, then Bank Accounts, choose the account and select Upload Statement. Choose the file with Select a file, decide whether to leave Guess explanations for my transactions ticked, then select Upload Statement. You need level 6 access or above to upload a CSV.
Which file formats can FreeAgent import?
OFX, QIF and CSV. OFX and QIF need no reformatting, so use them if your bank offers them; CSV files usually need rearranging into FreeAgent's three-column layout first. PDF isn't one of the formats, so convert a PDF statement to OFX or CSV first.
Is there a FreeAgent bank statement CSV template?
Yes. FreeAgent's CSV article links a small template, and Utilly has two free ones, no sign-up: a checking CSV with 31 fictional transactions and a credit card CSV with 21, both with known totals and in FreeAgent's layout.
How do I undo a bank statement upload in FreeAgent?
Open the bank account from Banking, Bank Accounts, select More and choose Undo last upload, then Delete these transactions. It removes the most recent upload first. Attachments on explained transactions in that statement are deleted too.
Why are my money in and money out the wrong way round in FreeAgent?
The file's signs were reversed. With the bank account open, select More and choose Switch money in/out. It reverses the unexplained transactions from your latest statement upload; explained transactions are never reversed.
Related guides
- Free Xero CSV import template for bank statements (filled and blank)
- How to import a bank statement into Xero (OFX, CSV or PDF)
- Free sample bank statement CSV (fictional, with known totals)
- Free sample OFX file (bank and credit card), explained
- QIF file format explained: every field, with a real example
- How to find a bank reconciliation discrepancy: 7 causes and a 15-minute method
Related tools
- Bank reconciliation checker: compare a bank statement to your books and list missing, duplicate and mismatched transactions.
- Receipt to CSV: turn PDF or photo receipts and invoices into CSV, Excel, or QuickBooks and Xero bill imports.
