File import

What file import is for

File import is how you bring history into Tovari from a file your bank gives you, rather than by typing it in or linking the bank. It is the right tool for a bank Tovari cannot link, for the years of history a fresh link does not reach back to, and for the one-off statement you want in your register.

An import always goes into one account that you choose. Nothing is written to your register until you have seen exactly what will be added and confirmed it.

The files Tovari reads

Tovari accepts three extensions, up to 5 MB per file:

.csv — a spreadsheet-style export. You tell Tovari which column means what.
.ofx — a banking-format download. Nothing to map; the format already names its fields.
.qfx — the same thing under a different extension. QFX is an OFX dialect, and Tovari reads it exactly as it reads OFX. If your bank offers a “Quicken” download and it lands as .qfx, it will work.

If your bank offers a choice, take OFX or QFX: the mapping step disappears and there is less to get wrong.

Tovari checks the file against what you already have

Before you see anything, Tovari compares every row in the file against your existing register and your scheduled bills, and sorts them for you:

New Transactions — nothing like this is in your register. These import.
Needs Review — close to something you already have, but not close enough for Tovari to decide on its own. You confirm or skip each one.
Matched — Register — this row links to a register entry you already have, rather than becoming a second copy of it.
Matched — Bills — this row enters a scheduled bill that was waiting for it.
Already Imported — Skipped — Tovari has seen this exact transaction before and will not add it again.

This is why importing the same statement twice is safe: the second pass lands almost entirely in the last group.

Starting an import

Open the register for the account you want to import into and choose File Import in the row of actions above the transactions. Pick your file, and Tovari begins reading it.

While it works you will see it Reading your file, and then Identifying unfamiliar merchants… — Tovari is turning raw bank descriptions into payee names you will recognise.

Mapping the columns of a CSV

A CSV has no standard shape, so Tovari shows you its best guess at what each column means and lets you correct it. You can set:

Field	What it is
Date	The transaction date.
Description	The raw text your bank supplies. Tovari turns this into a payee name.
Amount	A single signed column, if your bank uses one.
Debit / Credit	Two separate columns, if your bank splits money out and money in.
Check #	The cheque number, if the file carries one.
Post Date	The date the transaction settled, where that differs from the transaction date.

Use Amount on its own, or Debit and Credit together — whichever matches your file.

You can also tell Tovari how many rows to skip before the data starts (useful when a bank puts a title or an account summary above the header row) and which date format the file uses.

Save the mapping and you only do this once

Tick Save this mapping for future imports of this account and Tovari keeps the column layout for next time. Banks rarely change their export format, so the next import of the same account skips straight past this step.

Reviewing before anything is written

The review screen is the last stop before your register changes. Transactions are listed under the five groups above, each showing its Date, Payee, Category and Amount.

Use Include or Skip on any single row to change your mind about it, and Restore to bring back something you skipped.
Where a whole group can be actioned at once, Confirm all and Skip all do it in one go.
A row that still needs your decision is marked Confirm to import.
A row flagged Possible duplicate in file appears more than once inside the file you uploaded — worth a look, because that is your bank’s doing rather than Tovari’s.
You can correct a payee name in place while you are here.

When you are happy, the button at the bottom tells you exactly what you are about to do — Import 6 Transactions, or whatever your count is — and only those transactions are written. Cancel discards the whole import; nothing you did on this screen has touched your register yet.

Transactions — the register your imported transactions land in.
Bank connections — linking a bank so transactions arrive on their own.
Payees — how Tovari turns raw bank text into names you recognise.
Where each feature works — what is available on which platform.