I’ve read the other threads that address importing transactions, but they don’t seem to address my problem.
Here it is, as simple as I can say it: When I import .csv file transactions, Goodbudget does not recognize the existing transactions that I entered manually, does not detect them as matching, and therefore ends up in many duplicate transactions being created.
When I compare the transactions, the names, dates, and amounts are identical, yet Goodbudget cannot seem to detect a match in most cases, although (rarely) it does seem to detect some matches.
I end up spending so much time finding and removing duplicates trying to balance the account that the whole import process seems to be much more trouble than it is worth.
Have you tried downloading a different file type? I have good success with .QFX files, and the matches are pretty consistent. If your bank doesn’t offer that, but does offer other file types, you might try them instead. It may be something as simple as your bank using negative numbers instead of Goodbudget’s positive ones, for example, but it’s hard to know exactly where they’re falling off.
Are you dragging the imported transactions across the column to align them with your own entries before you complete the import? That will link them, should prevent any duplicates, and you’ll have the option to edit the matched transactions for date, name and amount before they’re finalized.
I hope one or both of these suggestions helps!
Hi Tiffany,
My bank only offers .csv files.
The .csv files seem to be formatted correctly … date, name, amount, etc. (no mis-match with negative or positive numbers).
When I start the import process, all the transactions from the .csv file appear on the left side, under “Transactions to Import.”
The problem is that the “Existing Transactions” side is totally blank! None of my existing manually entered transactions are listed there, even though they have the exact same date, name, and amounts.
So, if I drag them over, I am creating new transactions (and thus duplicating the transactions that are already there).
As I mentioned in my initial post, very rarely there is a transaction or two listed on the “Existing Transactions” side, and I’m able to drag them to match … but most of the time, they are not listed there.
Thanks again.
Rich
Hmmm…that sounds like the Goodbudget team might need to take a look. I do know that if you’ve already attempted to import transactions for a certain period, it won’t try to use those again so if for example you imported June, were unsuccessful, then tried importing it again, it won’t look at the transactions from the earlier import. I’m not sure that explanation makes sense, but if you’re not seeing any of your OWN transactions, and I’m sure you’ve been careful to choose the correct account to import into with the correct dates, then I suspect it has something to do with that “duplicate” import feature.
Let me see if I can find the Admins’ response about this from a while ago…you may have already seen it, but give me a second…
I did see that thread, and boy did it get chaotic! People were talking past each other and I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was being said.
This problem seems to be exceedingly simple (at least to me), so I don’t understand why the responses tend to get so complex.
Yes, I have tried multiple imports of different .csv files that have overlapping date ranges / transactions, because I’m still getting accustomed to Goodbudget … but in those cases, I’d expect that transactions that I already imported previously would NOT be listed under “Transactions to Import” (or the “Existing Transactions”) … because - as Alex said in that other thread - Good budget has already “handled” them.
However, when I import transactions in .csv files with overlapping date ranges, and that include transactions previously imported, many of the transactions DO appear (AGAIN) in the “Transactions to Import” list but, frustratingly, they DO NOT appear in the “Existing Transactions” list.
AND YES - just to be clear, you are correct. When I import transactions “clean” from a .csv file, my OWN manually entered transactions DO NOT appear in the “Existing Transactions” list, even though the names, dates, and amounts are identical to the data in the .csv file.
I’ve worked with other software before, and I’ve never had this kind of a problem for such simple thing as importing transactions. It seems like there is a very easy solution in this case: Allow me to see ALL existing transactions on every import, and let me match them accordingly. Every other financial software that I have ever used allows me to do that.
Hi Rich, sorry for the troubles. First, would you mind shooting us an email at support@goodbudget.com with your Goodbudget login email address and a CSV you’ve been trying to import that you’ve been having issues with? That’ll probably be the quickest way for us to get on the same page and figure out what’s happening.
As an aside, I agree that your easy solution would be easier, but in an ideal world, our current solution should make things even easier by cutting out the extra task of needing to match transactions you’ve already dealt with. Apparently that isn’t working right now, but if it was, then it’d be saving you some time … that’s the logic behind it, at least. Hopefully we can figure out what’s happened here.