How to import transactions into Monarch Money (CSV format, free template, old statements)
Monarch Money imports transactions from a CSV, which is how you fill in the months your bank didn't send when you connected it, or add an account that won't sync. The importer is flexible about column order but strict about a few things: an Account column, one signed Amount column, and a choice about overlapping transactions that can delete what you already have. Here's the format, the steps, which overlap option to pick, how to get old PDF statements in, and free templates with known totals so you can test first.
Short answer: on the web (not the app), go to Accounts → + Add Account → Import transaction & balance history → Import transactions and upload a CSV with at least Date, Amount and Account columns, in any order. Money out is negative (-58.12 or (58.12)), money in has no sign, and any standard US date format works. For history older than what your bank synced, choose Prioritize Monarch so existing transactions are kept. Imports can't be undone, so test with a small file. Free templates in Monarch's own column layout: the filled CSV (52 fictional transactions in two accounts), the blank CSV and a balance history CSV.
See the statements 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 filled template holds those 31 lines plus the 21 lines of the matching fictional credit card statement, so you know exactly what an import should bring in.
- Monarch's sample file and the templates here
- The CSV format Monarch needs
- Dates and amounts
- Importing the CSV, step by step
- Which overlap option to choose
- Old transactions from PDF statements
- Credit cards and card payments
- Importing balance history
- Checking the import against known totals
- Mistakes, undo and large files
1. Monarch's sample file and the templates here
Monarch's help article Importing Transactions Manually links "an example spreadsheet (CSV) with example data", a Google Sheet whose header row is Date, Merchant Name, Data Provider Description, Amount, Category, Account, Tags, Notes. Its Importing Large CSV Files article says to use the sample templates this way: "Copy your data into the template (overwrite the example rows but keep the headers)" and "Save the file as a CSV before uploading".
The files here use that header row in that order, with no sign-up. The filled one is written from Utilly's fictional sample statements (explained on sample bank statement PDF), read by the same engine Utilly's converters use, so the rows can't drift from the PDFs.
| File | What's in it | Use it when | Known totals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filled transactions CSV | Header row + 31 checking lines (account Example Business Checking) + 21 card lines (Example Business Card) | Testing an import into a throwaway manual account, or comparing your file with one in the right shape | 52 lines; checking +29,597.43 / −28,575.27; card +1,542.18 / −1,939.94 |
| Blank transactions CSV | The header row only | Pasting your own rows | None |
| Balance history CSV | Date, Balance: the checking statement's ending balance on each of its 22 transaction dates | Filling in a balance chart for months before the account synced | 9,182.45 on 2026-09-01 … 13,440.52 on 2026-09-30 |
The filled CSV is plain ASCII text (valid UTF-8) with Windows line endings, about 5.4 KB. Merchant Name and Data Provider Description both hold the bank's text for the line; rename merchants in Monarch afterwards or with its rules. Category is filled only where the line says what it is (two card payments and a transfer to savings, below); Tags and Notes are empty.
2. The CSV format Monarch needs
From Monarch's help: "The importer does not require a specific column order and uses keyword-based mapping." Three headers are required:
| Column | Required? | Monarch's rule | In the template |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Yes | "Any standard US-based date format will work (i.e. December 1, 2024 or 12/01/24)." | 2026-09-01, the year-first form Monarch's own sample file uses |
| Amount | Yes | "Both credits and debits should be in the same column" | −6420.18 for payroll, 3184.27 for a Stripe deposit |
| Account | Yes, from + Add Account | Optional if you import from an account's own page (Edit on the account details page) | Example Business Checking / Example Business Card |
| Merchant Name, Data Provider Description | No | Columns in Monarch's sample file | The statement text |
| Category, Tags, Notes | No | "These can be new or existing categories or tags." | Category on 3 lines; Tags and Notes empty |
| Anything else | No | "Extra columns not used by Monarch will be ignored." | None |
"If any of these required fields are missing or duplicated, the importer will prompt you to fix the file." A transaction ID column only matters for files exported from Monarch: re-importing one lets you update existing transactions instead of adding new ones. Monarch also notes that "Budgets or aggregate cash flow totals can not be imported."
The start of the filled template as plain text:
Date,Merchant Name,Data Provider Description,Amount,Category,Account,Tags,Notes
2026-09-01,ACH DEBIT GUSTO PAYROLL 0912,ACH DEBIT GUSTO PAYROLL 0912,-6420.18,,Example Business Checking,,
2026-09-01,STRIPE TRANSFER ST-K2M8Q4,STRIPE TRANSFER ST-K2M8Q4,3184.27,,Example Business Checking,,
2026-09-02,CHECK 2041,CHECK 2041,-1850.00,,Example Business Checking,,
2026-09-02,ACH DEBIT AUSTIN ENERGY UTIL,ACH DEBIT AUSTIN ENERGY UTIL,-412.66,,Example Business Checking,,3. Dates and amounts
Monarch's sign rule: "Debits, purchases, and withdrawals should be denoted with a - in front of the number or in parentheses () around the number", and "Credits or deposits should be written with no other symbols." Its examples are -58.12, (58.12) and 58.12.
| Your file has… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Separate Withdrawals and Deposits (or Debit and Credit) columns | Make one Amount column: deposits minus withdrawals, for example =D2-C2 in a helper column, pasted as values |
| A credit card export with purchases positive | Flip the sign so purchases are negative and payments positive (multiply by −1) |
| Dollar signs or thousands commas | Remove them; Monarch's examples are plain numbers |
| Day-first dates (31/08/2026) | Monarch asks for US formats; change them to 08/31/2026 or 2026-08-31 |
| A Balance column | It's an extra column and should be ignored, but check the mapping screen doesn't assign it to anything |
Opening a bank CSV straight in Excel can change dates and numbers before you notice; opening a bank CSV in Excel without breaking it covers the safe way.
4. Importing the CSV, step by step
"Importing is available on web only (and not the mobile app)." From Monarch's help:
- Go to Accounts and click + Add Account.
- Click Import transaction & balance history, then Import transactions.
- Upload the CSV. One account or several in the same file both work.
- Review the column mapping Monarch suggests and change anything it got wrong.
- Add or assign tags and categories, then add or assign the account names. Each name in your Account column can go to an existing Monarch account or a new one.
- Choose how to handle overlapping transactions (next section).
- Review the summary and click Import transactions. Once the green check mark shows, you can leave the page; the import finishes in the background.
To import into one account without an Account column, open that account's details page and click Edit instead. On a synced account, imports leave the balance as the bank reports it; on a manual account, Monarch lets you choose to update the balance.
5. Which overlap option to choose
This is the step that can cost you data. Monarch's four options:
| Option | What Monarch says it does | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Prioritize Monarch | "Keep existing data and only import missing earlier transactions. Some transactions in your CSV may not be imported." | Back-filling history older than what the bank synced. The safe default |
| Prioritize CSV | "Monarch will delete all existing transactions in your account that fall between the earliest and latest dates in the CSV file and replace them with the CSV data." | Only when the file is the complete, correct record for its whole date range. Synced transactions, edits and categories in that range are replaced |
| Import all | "All transactions in the CSV will be imported. This may result in duplicate transactions." | An empty account, such as a new manual account |
| Use transaction IDs to match transactions | Updates existing transactions from a file exported from Monarch that has a transaction ID column | Bulk edits you made in a spreadsheet, not new history |
A tip for back-filling: stop the CSV the day before the first transaction Monarch already has for that account. Then nothing overlaps, and every option gives the same result.
6. Old transactions from PDF statements
When you connect a bank, Monarch's help says "The amount of history provided varies by institution — some send a few months, others several years." If the bank's own CSV download doesn't reach back far enough either, the monthly PDF statements are what's left. Monarch's transaction importer takes CSV files, not PDFs. Its receipt import does read PDF attachments, but each forwarded email is treated as a single receipt, so it isn't a way to bring in a statement's lines. The route that works:
- Find where synced history starts for the account in Monarch, and gather the PDF statements before that date.
- Convert each PDF to CSV. Bank statement to CSV reads the PDF, shows a free preview, and checks that the opening balance plus every line equals the closing balance, so you know no line was missed before anything goes into Monarch. Its clean CSV is
Date,Description,Amount,Balancewith year-first dates and one signed amount, which already follows Monarch's date and sign rules. For card statements, use credit card statement to CSV; purchases come out negative. - Add an Account column (or import from the account's own page), or paste Date, Description and Amount into the blank template, using Merchant Name for the description.
- Test one month in the real account with Prioritize Monarch, check the signs and dates, then import the rest, oldest first.
- Add balance history for the same months if you want the net worth chart to go back too (section 8).
Scanned statements work too: see scanned bank statement to Excel. Downloading a converted statement uses 1 credit ($9 for 5, no subscription); the preview and balance check are free with no sign-up.
7. Credit cards and card payments
Card files follow the same sign rule: purchases negative, payments and refunds positive. Monarch's own sample file does it this way (its Visa purchases are negative and a Target refund is positive), and so does the template's card account: 19 charges and interest totalling −1,939.94, a 1,500.00 payment and a 42.18 return.
A card payment shows up twice once both accounts are in Monarch: the debit from checking and the credit on the card. Monarch's Transfers and Credit Card Payments article says both "should be categorized with the Credit Card Payment category (transfer)", which is excluded from budgets and spending, so the purchases aren't counted twice. The template does that: PAYMENT THANK YOU - WEB on the card and ACH DEBIT AMEX EPAYMENT on checking are Credit Card Payment, and ONLINE TRANSFER TO SAVINGS is Transfer. Every other line's Category is empty for Monarch's rules or for you.
Converting card statements from PDF? Convert a credit card statement PDF to Excel covers the card layouts.
8. Importing balance history
Balances are a separate import. Monarch's Importing Account Balances Manually article:
- Start from + Add Account → Import transaction & balance history → Import balances, or from an account's page with Edit → Import balance history.
- One CSV per account, with at least Date ("YYYY-MM-DD") and Balance. "Each file must contain unique dates."
- For liabilities such as loans and credit cards, enter negative values: "–150000 or (150000) for a mortgage".
- "Balance imports are designed to fill in past data and do not support future-dated balances."
The balance history template holds the fictional checking account's ending balance on each date that has a transaction, from the statement's Balance column:
Date,Balance
2026-09-01,9182.45
2026-09-02,6919.79
2026-09-03,6833.36
…
2026-09-29,13452.31
2026-09-30,13440.52That article's example table is headed Date and Amount, while its text says Balance. The importer asks you to assign columns either way, so the heading shouldn't block the import. Converting a PDF statement gives you the Balance column for free: keep the last balance of each day and delete the other columns.
9. Checking the import against known totals
Import the filled template into new manual accounts you can delete afterwards, never into accounts you rely on. Then compare:
| Check | Example Business Checking | Example Business Card | If it's wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactions | 31 | 21 | Fewer: an overlap option skipped some, or rows went to the other account |
| Money in | 29,597.43 (11) | 1,542.18 (2) | A different total means an amount was misread |
| Money out | 28,575.27 (20) | 1,939.94 (19) | Same as above |
| Net | +1,022.16 | −397.76 | The opposite sign means every amount is flipped |
| Dates | Sept 1–30, 2026 | Sept 1–30, 2026 | Other months mean day and month were swapped |
| Statement balance | 12,418.36 → 13,440.52 | owed 2,846.12 → 3,243.88 | The transaction CSV carries no balances; use the balance import |
The data is fictional (Example Community Bank and Sample Customer LLC don't exist; both statements say SAMPLE STATEMENT, FICTIONAL DATA FOR DEMONSTRATION ONLY). Replace every row before using the template for real.
10. Mistakes, undo and large files
Monarch is blunt about this: "CSV imports cannot be undone. To remove imported transactions, you’ll need to bulk-delete them or delete the financial account and start fresh. You can always test your import first with a smaller CSV file."
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| "File too large" | Monarch's Importing Large CSV Files: split by account first (one CSV per account), then by date range if needed, "one file per year or per six months" |
| Importer asks you to fix the file | Date, Amount or Account is missing or appears twice; rename or remove the extra column |
| Duplicates after Import all | Bulk-delete the imported copies, or on a synced account use Settings → Data → Delete transaction history in synced accounts, which has an "Include transactions imported by CSV" box and only deletes before a date you pick. It doesn't affect manual accounts |
| Synced transactions disappeared | Prioritize CSV replaced everything between the file's first and last date. Monarch's help doesn't describe a way to restore them; re-import that range from a bank export or statement, or ask Monarch support |
| Spending counted twice | Categorize both sides of each card payment as Credit Card Payment |
| Wrong sign on a whole card | The export had purchases positive; flip the Amount column, delete the import, and import again |
| Only a PDF statement | Convert it to CSV first (section 6) |
Moving from Quicken instead? Importing a CSV into Quicken covers the Quicken and Simplifi layouts, which differ from Monarch's.
Get old statements into Monarch
PDF statements, downloaded or scanned, get a free preview with the balance check, no sign-up. The clean CSV has year-first dates and one signed Amount column, the way Monarch wants them. Files are processed in memory and not stored.
Utilly isn't affiliated with Monarch Money. The rules, steps and quotes above are from Monarch's Help Center, checked November 11, 2026; the templates weren't imported into a live Monarch account, and Monarch's column mapping may differ from what's described if it changes. Sources: Importing Transactions Manually, Monarch's sample transaction spreadsheet, Importing Account Balances Manually, Importing Balances and Transactions Manually, Importing Large CSV Files, Guide to Connecting Your Accounts, Transfers and Credit Card Payments, Deleting History Across All Accounts, Manual Accounts, Importing Receipts into Monarch. Monarch updates these pages; if a screen differs, follow the current help.
FAQ
Can you import transactions into Monarch Money?
Yes, from a CSV file, on the web only (not in the mobile app). Go to Accounts, click + Add Account, choose Import transaction & balance history, then Import transactions, and upload the CSV. It works for synced and manual accounts. On a synced account the balance stays as the bank reports it; on a manual account you can choose to adjust the balance.
What CSV format does Monarch Money need?
Three columns are required, in any order: Date, Amount and Account. Account can be left out if you start the import from that account's own page. Amount is one column for both directions: money out with a minus sign or in parentheses, money in with no symbol. Any standard US date format works. Category, Tags and Notes are optional, and columns Monarch doesn't use are ignored.
Is there a Monarch Money CSV import template?
Monarch's help links a sample spreadsheet with the columns Date, Merchant Name, Data Provider Description, Amount, Category, Account, Tags, Notes. Utilly has a free copy of that layout with no sign-up: a filled version with 52 fictional transactions in two accounts and known totals, a blank version, and a balance history template.
How do I import old transactions into Monarch?
Banks share a limited window of history when you connect them, often a few months. For older months, export a CSV from the bank's website, or convert the PDF statements to CSV, put the rows in Monarch's format and import them. Choose Prioritize Monarch for overlapping transactions so existing ones are kept and only missing earlier ones come in.
Can Monarch Money import a PDF bank statement?
Not as a transaction import. Monarch's transaction and balance importers take CSV files. Its receipt import does read PDF attachments, but each forwarded email is treated as a single receipt, so it isn't a way to bring in a statement's lines. Convert the PDF statement to CSV first, then import the CSV.
Can you undo a CSV import in Monarch?
No. Monarch's help says CSV imports cannot be undone. To remove imported transactions you have to bulk-delete them or delete the account and start again. Test with a small file first, such as one month, and check the signs and dates before importing the rest.
How do I import credit card transactions into Monarch?
Use the same CSV format with the card's name in the Account column. Purchases are negative and payments and refunds positive, as in Monarch's own sample file. Categorize the card payment as Credit Card Payment on both sides, the debit from checking and the credit on the card, so Monarch treats it as a transfer and doesn't count the spending twice.
Related guides
- YNAB CSV import: the format, a free template, and how to import past transactions
- How to import a CSV file into Quicken (Windows, Mac and Simplifi)
- How to import bank statements into Quicken (including PDF statements)
- Free sample bank statement CSV (fictional, with known totals)
- Catch-up bookkeeping: getting 12 months of bank statements into QuickBooks or Xero and reconciled
- How to convert a credit card statement PDF to Excel
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.
