Importing Transactions in Accounting

Upload a statement from your bank instead of typing transactions by hand. ChurchTrac reads the file, matches it to the right account, and lets you review every transaction before it reaches your register.

Supported files

• PDF bank statements. (Requires our most current plan.)
• OFX (Money), QFX (Quicken), QIF, and QBO (QuickBooks) files. QIF files can only be uploaded from an account register.

CSV files are not supported. See our Bank Link article if you prefer to connect directly to your bank.

Note: ChurchTrac uses AI to read PDF statements and pull out their transactions. Your uploads are deleted once they are processed, and your statement data is never used to train AI models or shared with AI model providers.

• Before You Begin
• Upload From the Accounting Dashboard
• Upload From an Account Register
• Review Transactions
• Automatic Reconciliation
• Pro Tips

Before You Begin

• Set up Accounting first. Create your Funds and Categories before uploading. See our Setting Up Accounting guide.
• Get your statement. Log in to your bank and download a PDF statement or an OFX, QFX, QIF, or QBO file. One statement period at a time processes fastest.
• Check your account numbers. ChurchTrac matches each upload to an account using the last four digits of the account number. Make sure each account in ChurchTrac has its account number entered.

Upload From the Accounting Dashboard

Use this when you have several statements to upload, or a bank account that isn't in ChurchTrac yet.

Step 1: On the Accounting dashboard, select Actions, then choose one:

Upload Statement to upload a PDF statement. 

OR Add Bank Account, then scroll down to "Or upload a statement" to upload a PDF, OFX, QFX, or QBO file.

Step 2: Drag and drop your file onto the drop zone, or select the drop zone to browse your computer. 

Step 3: ChurchTrac matches the file to an account using the last four digits of the account number.

• Match found: the transactions go to that account for review.
• PDF with no match: choose Create a new account, Use an existing account, or Skip.
• OFX, QFX, or QBO file with no match: ChurchTrac creates the account for you automatically.

Created a new account from an upload? Open it and check the beginning balance and date against your statement, and split the beginning balance across Funds if needed. See our Creating and Editing Accounts guide.

Upload From an Account Register

Use this when you know which account the statement belongs to.

Step 1: On the Accounting dashboard, select the account.

Step 2: In the account register, select Import/Bank Link button in the top right corner.

Step 3: Select the Actions button, then Upload Transactions.

The upload panel shows the last four digits of the account the file will go to. If they're wrong, select the edit icon to correct them. Then drag and drop your file onto the drop zone.

Review Transactions

Every transaction is reviewed before it's added, whether it came from a PDF, a bank file, or Bank Link.

After you upload, the Transactions to Review screen opens for that account. For PDF statements, the statement period and its opening and closing balances appear at the top, so you can check them against your statement.

Transactions are sorted into three tabs:

• Needs attention: transactions that still need a category. 
• Ready to add: transactions that are ready to go into your register. 
• All: every transaction from the upload.

Select a transaction in the list to open it. Choose a Category and Fund, then select Add & next to add it and move to the next transaction, or Skip to leave it out of your register. 

If you have Import Rules in place, some transactions will already have a category filled in. Check anything that doesn't match your records.

Edit Transaction Details

To change more than the category and fund, select "Edit transaction details (payee, split, memo, date, transfer)."

This opens the Review Transaction window, where you can:

• Change the Date, Transaction Type, Reference, or Payee/Description. 
• Split the transaction across Categories or Funds by selecting Add Line. The lines must add up to the Total. 
• Add a Note, Memo, or Tags. - Check "Create an import rule for this payee" so future transactions from this payee are categorized automatically.

The top of the window shows where you are (for example, 1 of 42), and the bottom shows which transaction is next. Select Add & open next to add it and continue, Skip to leave it out, or Cancel to close without changes.

Watch for Possible Duplicates

ChurchTrac flags transactions that look like ones already in your register, such as a check you entered by hand or a statement uploaded twice. Compare the flagged transaction with your register. If it's already there, skip it.

Bulk Add or Skip

Check each transaction you want to handle at once. Select Actions, then Add Checked Items or Skip Checked Items, and select OK.

Automatic Reconciliation

If the account's Auto Reconcile option is on, ChurchTrac reconciles the account for you after you finish reviewing, once your register matches the bank's balance.

Auto Reconcile is off by default. To turn it on, select Edit Account next to the account on the Accounting dashboard.

Then enable the Auto Reconcile option.

See How to Reconcile Bank Accounts to learn more.

Pro Tips

If the transaction type is an account transfer, you will need to manually select Transaction Type: "Account Transfer".

The total amount for each of the entries MUST equal the amount of the imported transaction or the transaction will not import.

Comma Separated Value (CSV) formats are not supported for transaction imports.

You can create Import Rules to automate the work of managing your imported transactions.

If two uploads cover the same days, the repeated transactions are flagged as possible duplicates. Skip them during review.