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Expense CSV template: prepare and check your import

Download a blank CSV and a fictional example for WalletWatch.

A spreadsheet import should be checked before it becomes your spending history. Start with two rows so you can verify dates, income, expenses and categories without sorting through a whole year's records.

Download blank CSV · Download fictional example

The example file is for learning. Remove its sample rows before importing your own records. Keep an untouched copy of your original spreadsheet.

Watch a two-row import

This 59-second tutorial uses fictional records, cropped current product steps and synthetic narration. It shows the backup, preview and separate totals after import. The steps below can be followed without playing it.

Give each column one job

Column	Example	What to check
date — required	`2026-10-02`	Use YYYY-MM-DD and a real calendar date. Avoid ambiguous 02/10/2026.
category — required	`Food`	Use a consistent, non-empty category name.
amount — required	`120.50`	Use a positive amount with up to two decimal places. A minus sign does not mark income.
type — optional	`income` or `expense`	Set income explicitly. Blank or other values are treated as expenses.
comment — optional	`Fictional lunch`	Keep a note that will help identify the row later.

The simplest file uses the headers date,category,amount,type,comment. Save the sheet as comma-separated CSV, rather than uploading an XLSX workbook. Quote a field if its text contains a comma; a spreadsheet CSV export normally does this for you. This format does not convert currencies or import card billing settings, payment sources or bank statement formats automatically.

A fictional file, with a checkable result

date,category,amount,type,comment
2026-10-01,Salary,25000,income,Fictional example - remove before import
2026-10-02,Food,120.50,expense,Fictional example - remove before import

These rows contain ₹25,000 of income and ₹120.50 of expenses. Together their positive amounts add to ₹25,120.50. That is the import preview total, not spending or net cash flow. In a clean October record containing only these rows, Stats shows income ₹25,000, expenses ₹120.50 and cash flow ₹24,879.50.

The downloadable example uses 1–2 October. The video uses the same amounts on 26 October so both entries are visible under Today during recording. Choose the relevant date period when checking your own result.

Back up, preview, then confirm once

Open You → Backup & export → Export backup (JSON). Save the file outside the browser. A CSV export is not the same as this full backup.
Prepare a small sample with the columns above. In You, select the display currency you use for these records; the import does not exchange one currency into another.
Choose Import transactions (CSV) and select your file. The preview has a summary, not a row-by-row spreadsheet.
Check the valid transaction count, date span, new and matched category counts, and any skipped-row warnings. If these are unexpected, Cancel and correct the file first.
Choose Import once. When the app reports the number added, open Stats, choose the matching month or date range, and compare income and expenses separately against the source file.

Category matching uses the name and whether it belongs to income or expenses. For example, Food and the starter name 🍔 Food are different names. In a fresh app the plain Salary and Food sample creates two new categories. Check those counts before importing a larger file so you do not split one category across different names unintentionally.

If the preview is not what you expected

Missing-column message: check the header row, spelling and CSV separator. Required columns are date, category and amount.
Unreadable date: use an unambiguous real date such as 2026-10-02, rather than 02/10/2026 or an impossible date.
Unreadable amount: remove extra text, use a positive number, and limit decimal places to two.
No category: give the row a category before retrying.
Fewer valid rows: the preview can skip invalid rows while keeping the valid ones available. It does not repair the skipped records automatically.
Income appears as an expense: check that its type is income before confirming; leaving that field blank uses expense.

CSV import and JSON restore are different actions

CSV import adds entries to what you already have. It does not deduplicate another import of the same file. If you import twice, check the resulting entries before adding anything else; do not keep repeating the import to try to fix a wrong total. Export a current JSON backup before any cleanup.

Restore from backup file is a separate recovery action. It replaces current records with the JSON backup's contents after confirmation. Do not choose it to append a CSV or use it casually to undo one import: you could lose records added since that backup.

For card purchase histories, first choose a consistent card tracking method. WalletWatch stores these records in the current browser, not a cloud account. Clearing site data can remove them; keep regular backups and read the storage and privacy details.

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By Bhaumik Dhameliya · Reviewed 28 October 2026. All worked amounts are fictional.