Import a bank statement into Wave Accounting from a PDF

Wave accepts OFX, QBO, QFX and CSV uploads for bank and credit card accounts. How to convert a PDF statement and import it into Wave without duplicates.

Wave imports transactions from files when a bank connection isn't available. Wave itself recommends OFX/QBO/QFX over CSV because those formats carry transaction IDs that prevent duplicates.

Steps

1. Convert the PDF with Rowledger and choose OFX (Pro). For a credit card statement, Rowledger writes a credit-card OFX automatically.
2. In Wave go to Accounting → Transactions → More → Upload a bank statement.
3. Choose the Wave account the transactions belong to and upload the .ofx file.
4. Wave lists the imported transactions; categorize them as usual.

CSV alternative

Wave's CSV importer expects Date, Description, Amount with MM/DD/YYYY dates and signed amounts (money out negative). Rowledger's Wave preset writes this layout. Keep files short by splitting long statements month by month.

Avoiding duplicates

If part of the period already came in through Wave's bank connection, disconnect or pause the connection before uploading, or delete the overlapping imported rows afterwards. OFX imports from Rowledger carry a unique FITID per transaction, so uploading the same file twice doesn't duplicate rows.