Import FilesSkrooge is able to import files from other financial applications or from your bank. So, whether you're coming from another application, or simply don't want to go through the hassle of manually entering your operations, Skrooge has a fast lane for you.
One the following formats may be used:
- OFX
Open Financial eXchange. It is a well defined & documented format, that Skrooge imports using a third party library (libofx). This is the recommended format for imports.
- QFX
QFX is a customization of OFX from the commercial software Quicken™.
- QIF
Quicken™ Import File. Maybe the most common financial file format. However, it has some rather annoying limitations, like not giving the unit for operation, or no strict date formatting.
- CSV
Comma Separated Value. Though not strictly a financial format, it is quite often available as an export format from banks or other applications, mostly because it is so easy to use in a spreadsheet.
Since CSV has no strictly defined format, there is no way for Skrooge to know where it is supposed to find dates, categories, values... To do so, Skrooge expects your CSV file to contain some headers indicating what is the column for. The file must contain at least columns "Date" and "Amount".
You may manually define how the file is set up (i.e. ignoring the headers in the file) by setting them in the application settings ( ), in the Import / Export section.
One of Skrooge principles is to avoid multiple wizards or dialog boxes. This is especially true for imports, where other applications require many information from the user. Not Skrooge. When selecting , you will be asked to select the files (yes you can import many at once), and that's it. Behind the scene, Skrooge will find the file format and apply the relevant import mode.
One thing that might surprise you is that you won't be asked in which account the operations should be imported. That is because Skrooge will read the account number in the file, and will associate imported operations to that account.
If no account exists with this account number, or if the file does not contain this information, Skrooge will use the file name as the account number.
If there is still no account with that number, Skrooge will create a new account having the filename as the account number, and import all operations in that account. You will then be free to either rename the account, perform a mass update, or use Search & Process to associate imported operations to an existing account.
If no unit is specified in the imported file (which is often the case for QIF & CSV), Skrooge will assume the unit is your primary currency. If this was not the case, use the Search & Process function to correct.
Sometimes, the input files will not have dates formatted as per your country's customs (it may happen in QIF or CSV, OFX has an imposed date format). Skrooge will do its best to detect the format.
Imported Operations have a specific status. Right after import, they are considered as "Imported, not yet validated". The idea here is that you may want to check if the import went as expected, so you need to identify quickly those operations. As per default settings, those operations will also appear in blue.
Tip
If you don't want this behaviour, you can set the option Automatic Validation after Import in the application's settings.
There are some cases where you have manually entered an operation, but also imported it from your bank. In such cases, the operation will appear twice in the list.
You may merge these two operations by selecting them, and select in the contextual menu. This will add all information you manually entered to the imported operation, and will delete the manually entered operation.
