Import Bank Statement

This guide walks you through importing a bank statement file (CSV or Excel) into NexWave using the Bank Statement Importer. Use this when your bank does not offer an automatic feed (Akahu) or when you need to load historical transactions that pre-date your bank feed connection.

The Bank Statement Importer is the NexWave-specific tool. It is not the same as the generic Data Import tool, which cannot read bank statement column layouts.

Before you start

You will need:

• A bank statement file exported from your online banking, in CSV, XLSX or XLS format.

• A Bank Account record set up in NexWave with Is Company Account ticked.

• Permission as an Accounts User, Accounts Manager or System Manager.

If you have not yet set up the Bank Account record, do that first under Accounting → Bank Account → New.

Step 1: Open the Bank Statement Importer

In the awesomebar (top of NexWave), search for Bank Statement Importer and open the page.

Empty Bank Statement Importer

You can also reach it from the Bank Reconciliation Tool by clicking Upload Bank Statement. When you do, the bank account from the reconciliation tool is carried across automatically.

Step 2: Select the company and bank account

1. Pick the Company the statement belongs to.

2. Pick the Bank Account to import the transactions into.

The importer reads the last imported transaction for that bank account and shows it just below the field. Use this as a sanity check that you are about to import statements that pick up where the previous import left off.

Bank account selected, last transaction shown

If the last transaction on the screen does not match the opening row of your statement file, you risk creating duplicates or leaving a gap. Pause and reconcile the existing transactions before continuing.

Step 3: Attach the statement file

Click Attach next to Import File and pick the statement file from your computer.

File attached, Upload Statement button visible

Supported formats:

• CSV (Comma-Separated Values)

• XLSX (modern Excel)

• XLS (legacy Excel)

If your file is a PDF, export it as CSV from your bank's online portal first. The importer cannot read PDFs.

Step 4: Click Upload Statement

Click Upload Statement. NexWave reads the headers from your file and reveals the Field Mapping section.

Field Mapping section appears

Each dropdown lists the column headers found in your file. You tell NexWave which column corresponds to each transaction field.

Only select columns that are actually present in the uploaded file. You do not need to add blank columns to the spreadsheet just because a field appears on the screen. If your bank statement is a sparse file, map the required fields, then leave the optional bank-detail fields blank.

If a saved mapping already exists for this bank, the dropdowns are pre-populated and you can skip ahead to Step 6.

Step 5: Map the columns

Match each field on the left to the column in your file:

Mapping populated

Importing a sparse bank statement file

Some banks export only a few columns, for example Date, Description and one signed Amount column. That is fine. The importer needs:

• Date

• Description

• Reference Number

• One amount mapping, either Amount with Same Deposit/Withdrawal Field ticked, or both Deposit and Withdrawal with the checkbox unticked

If the file has no dedicated reference, map the same file column to both Description and Reference Number. This gives NexWave a value to store and compare without changing the bank file.

Leave Particulars, Code and Other Party blank unless the uploaded file has those exact columns. Blank optional fields import as empty values.

When a saved mapping is out of date

If the bank changes its export headings, NexWave may show a warning that the saved field mapping is out of date. The affected fields are left blank so you can pick the correct current column names from the dropdowns.

Do not edit the statement file just to recreate old headings. Re-pick the current columns, check the preview, then tick Save field mapping for future use on the successful import so the new layout is remembered for next time.

Credit card statements

Credit card statements report deposits and withdrawals the opposite way around to a normal bank statement. What the bank statement labels as a "deposit" is actually a charge on the card (money out), and what it labels as a "withdrawal" is a payment made to the card (money in). If you import a credit card statement with the same column mapping as a normal bank account, charges land in the Deposit field and payments land in the Withdrawal field. The Bank Reconciliation Tool then cannot match those transactions correctly, because it expects the usual orientation for an account treated as a bank or asset.

To handle credit card accounts, the Bank Account form has a Credit Card checkbox. When that flag is ticked on the bank account you are importing into, the importer automatically swaps the Deposit and Withdrawal columns at import time, so charges land in Withdrawal and payments land in Deposit without any manual change to the field mapping.

If the Credit Card flag is not ticked on the target Bank Account, you must swap the mapping yourself when setting up the import. In Step 5, map the column your bank labels as "deposit" to the Withdrawal field, and the column labelled "withdrawal" to the Deposit field. If your file uses a single signed amount column, leave Same Deposit/Withdrawal Field ticked and set Positive Amount Field to Withdrawal instead of the default Deposit.

See Set up a Bank Account for how to enable the Credit Card flag on the bank account.

Date format guide

The date format must match exactly how dates appear in your file. Open the CSV in a plain text editor (not Excel, which reformats dates) to see the raw value.

Picking the wrong date format is the most common cause of bad imports. May 7 (07/05/2026) read as US format becomes July 5, and the import will look fine until you reconcile. When in doubt, set the format manually.

Step 6: Click Map Fields and review the preview

Click Map Fields. NexWave parses every row in the file and builds a preview table.

Preview table

Check:

• Dates: do they match the dates on your statement? If they look swapped (months and days the wrong way around), go back to Step 5 and pick the correct date format.

• Amounts: deposits and withdrawals in the right columns? If everything is in the wrong column, your Positive Amount Field setting is reversed.

• Currency: matches the bank account's currency.

• Is Duplicated: flagged when the row matches a transaction NexWave already has (same bank account, date, amount and reference). Duplicates are skipped on import; you do not have to do anything.

If a duplicate-records warning pops up, dismiss it and review the Is Duplicated column to confirm the duplicates are the rows you would expect (typically the start-of-file rows that overlap with the previous import).

Step 7: Click Import

When the preview looks right, click Import.

NexWave creates a Bank Transaction record for each non-duplicate row, linked to the bank account you chose in Step 2. A success message appears once the import completes, and the form resets so you can upload the next statement.

What to do next

Imported transactions are now waiting in Bank Rec, ready to be matched against your invoices and payments.

Next: Reconcile Bank Transactions in the Bank Rec Workspace walks through matching, voucher creation, Cash Coding, matched review and Bank Rules.

Troubleshooting

Related guides

• Reconcile Bank Transactions in the Bank Rec Workspace: match imported bank statement lines after import

• Bank Reconciliation Tool user guide: match imported transactions against invoices and payments

• Bank Reconciliation Tool reference: field-level reference for the reconciliation tool

• Bank Rules: auto-match recurring transactions

• Bank Feeds Integration: automatic daily sync (alternative to manual import)

• Akahu Integration: connect a NZ bank for automatic feeds

• Reference: Bank Statement Importer: full reference doc with field-level detail