Download your bank statement as a CSV
Log into your online banking and find the option to download or export your transactions. Every major UK bank offers this — look for "Export", "Download", or "Statement" in your account history.
Choose CSV format and select a date range that covers your typical bills — the last one to three months is usually enough to catch everything recurring. Save the file somewhere you can find it.
Download the Ledgery import template
Open Ledgery and go to Settings → Backup & Restore → Download template. This gives you a CSV file with the exact columns Ledgery expects. Open it in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.
Don't have the app open? Download the template directly instead.
The template has example rows to show you the format. Delete those before you import your real data.
Fill in the template from your bank statement
With both files open side by side, copy your expenses across into the Ledgery template. You don't need every transaction — just the ones you want Ledgery to track and project forward.
The columns you need:
| Column | Required? | What to put |
|---|---|---|
type |
Yes | in or out |
date |
Yes | YYYY-MM-DD — e.g. 2026-07-15 |
name |
Yes | What it is — Phone bill, Rent, Spotify |
amount |
Yes | Numbers only — no £ sign. e.g. 45.00 |
frequency |
Optional | one-off, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly |
category |
Optional | Your own label — Travel, Equipment, Subscriptions |
Example — what a few rows might look like:
| type | date | name | amount | frequency | category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| out | 2026-07-01 | Rent | 950.00 | monthly | |
| out | 2026-07-03 | Phone bill | 45.00 | monthly | Office costs |
| out | 2026-07-07 | Spotify | 11.99 | monthly | Subscriptions |
| out | 2026-07-15 | Train ticket | 28.50 | one-off | Travel |
| in | 2026-07-14 | Salary | 2400.00 | monthly |
monthly. This is a one-time entry: Ledgery projects it forward forever from here. You'll never need to add that bill again.
one-off. They appear once on the date you set and don't repeat.
Save your template as a CSV
Once you've filled in your expenses, save the file as a CSV:
Excel: File → Save As → CSV (Comma delimited)
Google Sheets: File → Download → Comma-separated values (.csv)
Numbers: File → Export To → CSV
ledgery-import-2026.csv. Keep the file somewhere safe in case you need to reimport.
Import into Ledgery
Open Ledgery and go to Settings → Backup & Restore → Import backup. Select your CSV file. Ledgery will read it and show you what it found — how many rows imported successfully and any that were skipped.
If any rows were skipped, Ledgery will tell you which ones and why — usually a missing date or an unrecognised type. Fix those in your spreadsheet and reimport.
Set your current balance
Go to the Calendar tab and tap Update next to Current balance. Type in what your bank account actually shows right now. Ledgery uses this as the starting point for all its projections.
From here, Ledgery projects your balance forward — adding income, subtracting expenses — so you can see exactly what next month looks like before it arrives.
You're set up. 👁
Your expenses are in, your balance is set, and Ledgery is now projecting your financial future. Tap any day on the calendar to see your projected balance on that date.
Open LedgerySHORTCUT — USE AI
Don't want to fill in a spreadsheet? Use AI.
Take a screenshot of your bank statement on your phone. Upload it to Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini. Run the prompt below. Download the result and import it into Ledgery.
COPY THIS PROMPT
Extract all transactions from this bank statement image and create a table with these columns: type (use "in" for money coming in and "out" for money going out), date in YYYY-MM-DD format, name or description of the transaction, and amount as a number without any currency symbols. Then export the table as a CSV file I can download.
COMING SOON
We're working on automatic bank statement import — connect your bank and Ledgery reads your transactions directly, no screenshots needed.