CREATING A CONFIGURATION - Example 3
Where possible, download your statement in OFX (Money, Active Statement) format from your bank. If this format is valid you should not need to create a Configuration (template).
If not available, use CSV or Excel format.
In this example we use CSV format
Creating a Configuration from your file
View your CSV file in ‘Source File & Results’. Your statement should look something like this, except that in this example we have clearly spaced the columns.
This statement contains seven columns: the last of which is empty, but is nominated as a column at the beginning of the statement file.
The other columns include one for your account number, one for the date, one a description or ‘narrative’, one for a debit amount, one for a credit amount, and one for categories. Each of these columns is delimited by a comma.
Let’s see how we’d enter this statement into the Configuration Editor:
In this statement all of the columns are delimited (or separated) by a comma.
The first line in this statement is a summary of the columns. We don’t need to import this information, so we’re going to exclude the first line.
Date: The date appears in the second column in the format day/month/year
Money column: In this case we have two money columns - one for debits, and one for credits. These are the only columns that we need to concern ourselves with, because they contain transaction values. Budgets Get Real does not pay attention to balance columns, so, don’t count them as a money column.
Because there are two money columns this bank has chosen not to use any signs or suffixes to signify whether the transaction is a credit or a debit.
Description: The column that describes the transaction, in this case, column 3. In some statements there is an additional description column that indicates a category for that transaction, in this case there is, this column is column 6.
