Your connected bank, mortgage, and property manager accounts may not pull in all of your data. Close the gap by importing a file.
Supported File Types
Stessa supports these formats for bulk uploads:
QIF (Quicken Interchange Format)
QFX (Quicken Financial Exchange)
OFX (Open Financial Exchange)
CSV (Comma-Separated Values)
Uploading QIF, QFX, or OFX Files (Preferred)
QIF, QFX, and OFX files are the preferred formats because they require no additional formatting. To upload:
Download your transactions file from your bank or lender in QIF, QFX, or OFX format.
Go to your Transactions page in Stessa.
Click the Import button in the upper-right corner.
Assign a property. If you don't assign a property, you'll need to match each transaction manually.
Assign an existing Connected Account. Use the No Account option if needed.
Choose the transaction type: income, expense, or both.
Upload the file.
Uploading CSV Files
CSV files need more prep work than QIF, QFX, or OFX files. Only use CSV when the other formats aren’t available.
Step 1: Prepare Your CSV File
Use Stessa's official CSV template as a starting point. Open your data file alongside the template and transfer only the required fields, so no extra columns or metadata disrupt the format.
Required columns (in this order):
Date: Format must be MM/DD/YYYY
Amount: Expenses must be entered as negative numbers
Payee
Description
Optional columns:
Category: Must match an existing Stessa category exactly (e.g., use "Rental Dwelling" instead of "Insurance > Rental Dwelling"). See Stessa Categories: Master List.
Property: Must match your exact property name in Stessa, including spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
Unit: Must match the exact unit label in your Stessa account.
Step 2: Clean and Format Your File
Use negative values for all expenses, with both the negative sign and a dollar symbol (e.g.,
-$125.00), not parentheses or other formats.Organize your file by property whenever possible. This avoids manual property assignment after upload.
Combine extra data into the Description column using Excel’s
=CONCATENATE()formula if needed. For example:=CONCATENATE(A2, " - ", B2). Then right-click and choose Paste Special → Values to lock in the content.
Step 3: Upload Your CSV File
Go to your Transactions page in Stessa.
Click the Import button in the upper-right corner.
Assign a property.
Assign an existing Connected Account.
Choose the transaction type.
Upload the file.
Your transactions will appear on the Transactions page after upload.
Alternative: Using CSV During Bank Sync Issues
If your bank connection isn’t working, you can upload your transactions manually with a CSV file:
Export a year-to-date (YTD) CSV file of your transactions from your bank.
Follow the CSV upload steps above.
Troubleshooting Upload Errors
Verify the format: Make sure the file is one of the supported file types listed above.
Check for errors: Look for inconsistencies, such as incorrect formatting or unsupported characters.
Try again: Correct any errors and upload the file again.
If your file is rejected, double-check for:
Incorrect or misspelled column headers (
Date,Amount,Payee,Description, etc.)An incorrect date format (must be
MM/DD/YYYY)Missing negative signs on expenses
Extra symbols, formulas, or unsupported characters
Property name mismatches: Property names in the CSV must exactly match those in Stessa, including capitalization and spacing.
Data not showing after upload: Make sure the file follows the CSV template exactly, with no modified headers or missing fields.
File import errors: Include only transaction data (no document names or extra info), and use the correct dollar symbol and negative value format (
-$1.00).