Exporting receipts as CSV: columns, format and importing into accounting tools

In short: A receipt CSV export is a text file with one line per receipt and columns such as date, merchant, amount, currency, category and note. Accounting tools like Banana or CashCtrl and spreadsheets like Excel import it through a column mapping. For the import to work, the date format, decimal separator and character encoding must be right, and every line should have its original scan as a PDF alongside.

CSV is the least glamorous file format in bookkeeping and at the same time the most useful. Almost every program can read it, it needs no licence, and you can check it in a text editor. If you can export your receipts as CSV, you are not tied to any one app and can take your data wherever it is needed.

This article explains what a receipt CSV export should contain, which columns accounting tools need, how the import works in common programs and where the typical pitfalls are.

What a receipt CSV export should contain

A good receipt export contains one line per receipt with every field you filled in when capturing it, plus the file name of the matching scan. CSV stands for "comma-separated values": the values in a line are separated by a delimiter, usually a comma or a semicolon, and the first line holds the column names.

A line might look like this:

2026-03-14;Coop Pronto;47.90;CHF;Meals;Lunch client meeting Bern;2026-03-14_Coop-Pronto_47.90.pdf

What matters is that the export includes not just the list but the receipts themselves. The CSV is the overview, the PDF is the evidence. That is why an export from Belego gives you a ZIP for a period of your choice (year, month or a custom range): inside are the original PDFs, named by date, merchant and amount, plus the CSV list with category and note, plus a README explaining the structure. The ZIP doubles as a backup.

Which columns do accounting tools need?

Accounting needs at least a date, an amount, a currency and a description; everything else makes posting easier but is not mandatory. This overview shows what each column is for:

The category from the app is not the same as the account in the chart of accounts, but it is the best pointer to it. "Meals" usually becomes an account for expenses or entertainment in the books, "Office supplies" becomes office expenses. Your accountant, or you during the import, sets up this mapping once, and it can be reused afterwards. Sending receipts digitally to your accountant covers what else your Treuhänder (the Swiss term for a trustee or accountant) needs.

How do you import receipts as CSV into Banana, CashCtrl or Excel?

The import follows the same principle in all three programs: choose the file, confirm the delimiter and encoding, map the columns, check the preview, import. The menu names differ, the steps do not.

1. Create the export: in the app, choose the period, for example the first quarter, and save the ZIP.
2. Unzip: put the CSV and PDFs in a folder you will find again later.
3. Start the import: in Banana and CashCtrl via the import function for transactions, in Excel via "Data, From Text/CSV".
4. Map the columns: date to date, amount to amount, merchant or note to the posting text, category to the account (where the program offers it).
5. Check the preview: are the date format and amounts correct? Are umlauts intact?
6. Import, then compare the total with the app.

In Excel, the CSV then becomes a table you can analyse and send to your accountant. Getting receipts into Excel without typing them up shows how to turn it into an overview with a few formulas. For bexio and similar programs that manage receipts as documents, the PDFs from the ZIP are the right format, because each receipt is uploaded and posted individually there.

Where are the typical pitfalls in a CSV import?

Four details cause almost all import errors: date format, decimal separator, character encoding and delimiter. All four can be fixed in the import dialog once you know what to look for.

• Date format: 14.03.2026, 2026-03-14 and 03/14/2026 mean the same date but are read differently. The format YYYY-MM-DD is the least ambiguous, because no program confuses month and day.
• Decimal separator: 47.90 and 47,90 are the same amount. A program that expects a comma and receives a full stop reads 4790 or nothing at all. Check the setting in the import dialog or the first amounts in the preview.
• Character encoding: the CSV should be UTF-8 so that umlauts, as in "Zürich", survive. If strange characters appear, choose UTF-8 as the encoding during import.
• Delimiter: comma or semicolon. If a merchant name contains a comma ("Müller, Bakery"), the value has to be enclosed in quotation marks, otherwise the columns shift. A clean export does this automatically.

Then there is an organisational error: importing the same period twice. If you export January to March in April and then January to June in July, the first quarter is in the books twice. Stick to fixed periods, such as quarters or the full year, and keep a note of what you have already imported.

Why PDF and CSV belong together

The CSV on its own is not a receipt. It is a list you could have written yourself, and it proves nothing to the tax office. The evidence is the scan of the original, showing merchant, date, amount and VAT. That is why every receipt CSV export should come with the PDFs, and the file names in the CSV should point to those PDFs.

Retention follows the same logic: under Art. 958f of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR), business records and accounting documents must be kept for ten years, and electronic storage is permitted as long as they remain readable and unaltered. One ZIP per year with PDFs and CSV, backed up in two places, meets that requirement for most small businesses. Converting receipts to PDF explains why PDF is the right format for this.

What does a clean export workflow look like?

The simplest workflow is: capture continuously, export quarterly, archive the whole year once. That keeps the effort per round small, and your accountant receives data that is never more than three months old.

• Continuously: photograph receipts on the day of purchase and have them read. Whatever the app cannot read with certainty stays empty and is filled in briefly by hand. Reading receipts automatically has the details.
• Quarterly: choose the period, export the ZIP, import it into your accounting software or send it to your accountant.
• Annually: export the full year in one ZIP and file it as an archive. That is your backup at the same time.

With Belego, all receipts stay on the device, with no account and no cloud. The export is therefore also the way to secure your data outside the phone: once a year, copy the ZIP to your computer or into your own backup, done. Year-end receipts: ready to hand over in three steps explains how to prepare the year-end handover.

Frequently asked questions

Can I edit a CSV file in Excel and import it again afterwards?

Yes, but with care. When saving as CSV, Excel tends to change the date format, delimiter and encoding depending on your regional settings. Save explicitly as "CSV UTF-8" and check the file in a text editor afterwards. For small corrections it is often easier to change the values directly in the app and export again.

Is the CSV enough for my tax return, or do I need the PDFs?

For the tax return you need the receipts themselves, meaning the PDFs. The CSV helps you build the totals per category and transfer them into the forms, but it is not evidence. Keep both together: if the tax office asks for a receipt, you will find it via the file name in the CSV in seconds.

Which delimiter should a receipt CSV use?

There is no standard that applies everywhere. Programs with German or Swiss regional settings often expect a semicolon, English ones a comma. What matters is that you specify the right delimiter during import; almost every import dialog asks for it or detects it automatically. When in doubt, open the file in a text editor and look at the first line.

Can my accountant actually do anything with a CSV?

In most cases yes, and often they prefer it to a pile of paper. They import the CSV into their software or use it as a checklist while posting the PDFs. Ask briefly beforehand which date format and columns they prefer, and you will save both sides follow-up questions. One export per quarter with PDFs and CSV in the same ZIP is a good basis.