CSV Import

Published on June 5, 2026

CSV Import lets you bring bank transactions into your Aspire Budget spreadsheet in bulk — no more typing each one by hand.

How it works

CSV Import is a 3-step process inside the Aspire Budget add-on:

Upload your CSV file — Download a transaction export from your bank’s website, then drag it into the add-on or click to select the file.
Map your columns — Tell the add-on which columns in your CSV correspond to Date, Amount, and Description. The add-on auto-detects common bank formats, and you can save mappings for one-click reuse next time.
Preview and import — Review the first 5 rows to confirm everything looks right, select which account to assign the transactions to, then import.

Column mapping

Every bank exports CSVs slightly differently. The mapping step lets you specify:

Date column — which column contains the transaction date
Date format — US (MM/DD/YYYY), European (DD/MM/YYYY), or ISO (YYYY-MM-DD)
Amount column — a single column with signed amounts (negative for outflows, positive for inflows), or separate outflow/inflow columns
Description column — the merchant or memo field
Invert toggle — if your bank uses the opposite sign convention (positive for spending), flip it here

Once you save a mapping with a name (e.g., “Chase Checking”), the add-on remembers it. Next time you import a CSV with the same column headers, your saved mapping is automatically recommended.

Duplicate detection

The add-on creates a unique fingerprint (hash) for each imported row based on the raw CSV data — the date, amount, and description exactly as they appear in your file. This hash is stored in a hidden column of your Transactions sheet.

When you import the same CSV again (or an overlapping date range), transactions that have already been imported are automatically skipped. You’ll see a message like “Imported 12 transactions (3 duplicates skipped).”

Important: first-time imports

If you already have manually-entered transactions in your sheet before you start using CSV Import, those existing rows won’t have a hash — because they weren’t imported via CSV. This means the first time you import a CSV that overlaps with manually-entered transactions, duplicates are possible.

After the first import, all future imports will deduplicate correctly. We recommend reviewing your Transactions sheet after your first CSV import and removing any duplicates you spot.

Supported date formats

CSV Import handles most common date formats automatically:

01/15/2026 — US format (MM/DD/YYYY)
15/01/2026 — European format (DD/MM/YYYY)
2026-01-15 — ISO format
Jan 15, 2026 or 15 January 2026 — named month formats
15.01.2026 — dot-separated (treated as DD.MM.YYYY)

Dates are stored in your spreadsheet as locale-independent values, so they’ll display correctly regardless of your Google Sheets locale setting.

Tips

Download your bank CSV for a specific date range to keep imports manageable
Name your saved mappings clearly (e.g., “Fidelity Cash Mgmt” or “Amex Gold”) so you can find them quickly
After importing, run Auto-Categorize to automatically assign categories to your new transactions based on past history