The first step of the accounting workflow is to import your bank statement containing the list of transactions from your bank. This step will allow you to receipt into Street any money you've received into your bank as well as reconcile those transactions in one smooth process. You'll also be able to reconcile any outgoing payments in your bank with your outgoing payments in Street.

To get started, you need to import your bank statement. Head to the Bank Accounts tab within Accounting on the left side panel and click 'Import Statement'.

Now select your bank statement file and upload from your computer. Please note, the bank statement file must be in CSV format.

The next step of importing is to assign the imported fields to the corresponding fields within Street. Essentially, you're telling Street what data each column in your bank statement contains. The import page is split into two sections.

The left hand side contains the data from your bank statement, showing the first line of the file (typically the column headers depending on your bank's format) and and the first line of data so you can clearly see what data is in each column. Using this information, you should choose the associated field in Street to 'assign to' that column in your bank statement.

When assigning fields there are three mandatory fields that must be setup: Date, Amount and either Reference or Description. All other fields are optional however it is highly recommend to assign as many fields as possible to improve the speed and accuracy of reconciliation.

With the Amount field, Street has three options and the one/s you choose will depend on how your bank statement is laid out. If your bank statement has a single column with both positive amounts (incoming money) and negative amounts (outgoing money), you should use "Amount" field to assign to. If you bank files has two separate columns, one for incoming and one for outgoing money, you should use the "Amount (Credit)" and "Amount (Debit)" fields to assign to.

Below the assign fields section you need to select the correct date format by checking your bank statement and seeing how the date format is laid out. Ie if you see 30/08/2024 then choose the date format DD/MM/YYYY in Street.

Finally, you have the option to not import the first line of the bank statement file. In most cases, your bank statement will have column headings (date, amount, reference etc). In this case, ensure you tick the 'Don't import first line of the file (column headings)' button so Street doesn't try and use this row as data to import. However if your statement doesn't have any headers, you should untick this toggle.

On the right hand side you can see a breakdown of what data will show based on the fields you've assigned. The aim is to ensure that the three mandatory fields of date, amount and reference or description are all ticked green, meaning the data has been assigned correctly. Any additional green ticks will help for reconciliation later.

If you see any red exclamation marks, this indicates some of the data is either invalid or has not been assigned. Common mistakes here are the date format selected doesn't match the format in your bank statement or mandatory fields have not been assigned. In this case you should review the assigning fields step and ensure everything is setup correctly.

Once you're confident that the fields are assigned correctly you can click 'save and continue' to proceed to the final step.

The final stage of importing a statement is to review the statement lines. You will see an Import Status section with three categories: Valid, Duplicates and Errors.

Ideally everything will be valid as that means there are no errors and you can proceed with the import.

If you have any Duplicates that means that a specific transaction from your bank statement has been imported previously. You should review your statement to ensure you're not repeating entries. By default, all duplicates will be unchecked and won't be imported however you can use the check boxes to include them if you wish.

If you have any Errors that means something has gone wrong with the data on your import. Typically this can be things like £ signs or commas in the spreadsheet which cannot be read by Street and will prevent you from importing. In this case, review your spreadsheet and reach out to Street Support via live chat if you need further help.

Below the status header you will see a list of every transaction that's been imported, formatted based on the assigned fields, along with their individual status.

You can use the checkboxes to choose which transactions to import, allowing you to ignore duplicates or even specific transactions lines if you don't want them included for any reason.

When you are confident with the data on screen, you can finalise the import by clicking 'Confirm Import'.

You'll then be taken to the Reconcile page where you can begin the process of receipting and reconciling any transactions from your bank. For more information on this step, see our Reconciling and Receipting help article.