Import MT940 or camt.053 business statements

If your bank gives you business statements as MT940 or camt.053 files, your AI can read either one, bring the transactions into the right account and check that the result matches the statement's closing balance. New to importing? Start with how importing works.

What's in the file

Both formats carry what an import needs. Each bank publishes its own version of the format, so details vary.

• Opening and closing balance. In MT940, the opening balance is the :60F: line and the closing balance is the :62F: line, per Westpac's MT940 guide. In camt.053, they are the balances coded OPBD and CLBD, which mBank's guide maps from the MT940 :60: and :62: fields.
• Direction. In MT940, each :61: transaction line has a C (credit) or D (debit) mark. In camt.053, each entry has a credit/debit indicator of CRDT or DBIT.
• Decimal comma. MT940 amounts use a comma as the decimal separator, such as 1799,55, per ING's MT940 format description.

Pennyweight has no MT940 or camt.053 importer. Your AI reads the file and sends the rows to Pennyweight, with each date as YYYY-MM-DD and each amount as a plain signed number: money in positive, money out negative. Pennyweight refuses an amount that contains any other text, so a value such as 54,18 has to be converted first.

How to do it

1. If the account doesn't exist yet, ask your AI to add it, with its currency, such as EUR. If you don't give a currency, the account takes its ledger's currency, then the workspace's. See add a manual account.
2. Share the statement file with your AI and say which account it belongs to.
3. Your AI sends the statement's opening balance with the first import. A new manual account needs an opening balance before its first import saves.
4. Check the preview. It lists the rows, flags any that look like duplicates and shows the account's balance after the import. For a new account, that balance should equal the statement's closing balance.
5. Say yes. Your AI reports how many rows were saved and the account's new balance.

What you'll see

For the first prompt, your AI adds the account, reads the opening balance from the statement and previews the transactions with the balance they would leave. After you confirm, it reports the rows saved and the account's balance, which you can compare with the statement's closing balance.

For the second, your AI previews the rows against an account that already has history and tells you whether the statement picks up where the account's balance stands. Nothing is saved.

What carries over

Each row keeps its date, amount and description, plus any category or note your AI adds, and takes the account's currency. Statement numbers, bank references and transaction codes don't move, because an imported row has no field for them. See the full list of what doesn't move.

Good to know

• The next statement. When an import sets an account's opening balance, later imports into that account keep it. If your AI sends another opening balance, Pennyweight doesn't apply it and says so. To correct the opening, see set or correct an opening balance.
• An account whose opening you set yourself. If your AI sends the statement's opening balance with the import, it replaces yours. Ask your AI to leave it out when the account already has history.
• Accounts added in Settings. An account you add in Settings under Accounts still needs an opening balance before its first import.
• No conversion on import. Put a EUR statement into a EUR account. An import stores each amount in its own currency without converting it, and the preview flags any row in a currency other than the account's. See accounts and totals in more than one currency.
• Closing balance doesn't match? Check the opening balance and the direction of each row. If the rows went in the wrong way, your AI can remove the whole import and run it again. See undo an import and reconcile against a statement.
• Rules run when the import is saved. A row whose description matches one of your active rules gets the rule's category. Rules you add after the import change these rows only when your AI applies them. See rebuild your rules after moving.
• Then tidy up. Transfers, categories and balances are covered in after you import.