“Sage rejects my bank import file”
Sage expects statement files in a specific column order rather than letting you map freely, so a file that imports elsewhere can fail here purely because its columns are in a different sequence.
Symptoms
The import fails with a message about the file layout Values land in the wrong fields although all the data is present Only the first few rows import before the process stops
What actually causes it
Fixed column order
Where mapping is not offered, the columns must already be in the order Sage expects. A bank export with its own sequence fails or silently misplaces values, which is harder to spot than a refusal.
Header row treated as data
Some import routes assume no header. Leaving the column names in place turns them into a transaction with an unparseable date, stopping the run at the first row.
Regional date and decimal conventions
Day-first dates and decimal commas are normal in much of Sage's market, but a file from a different region carries the other convention and every value fails validation.
How to fix it
- Run the file through the checker below to confirm its real structure, delimiter and column count before rearranging anything.
- Reorder the columns to the sequence Sage documents for your import route, and remove the header if that route does not expect one.
- Make the date and decimal conventions consistent throughout the file rather than relying on the importer to cope.
- Re-check the edited file, since the spreadsheet used to reorder columns often changes the delimiter or encoding on save.
Related import problems
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