General Ledger + Converter in one subscription.
See pricingIMPORT GUIDE · WAVE
Wave uploads OFX, QBO, QFX, ASO or CSV statements from Accounting, Transactions, More, Upload transactions. It doesn’t take PDFs. A CSV needs a date, one amount column (or deposits and withdrawals) and a description. ZeraBooks Convert turns the PDF into that 3-column CSV, proven against the printed balances.
7-day trial · card required, nothing charged for 7 days · 1,000 pages a month from $79/month billed annually
THE CSV RULES
Every rule in Wave’s help center for a statement CSV, from articles updated in October 2026 and checked October 22, 2026: 3 or 4 columns and nothing else, column titles in the top row, one currency per file matching the payment account, and no balance, total or blank rows. The sample is a fictional September 2026 Visa statement for Fernhill Dog Grooming (card ending 4410), ready for Wave.
| Column | What goes in it | Example |
|---|---|---|
Date | One date column, no future dates; if Wave can’t read them, use YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD | 2026-09-04 |
Description | Must contain words, not only numbers | Booking software |
Amount | One column is safest; if separate deposit and withdrawal columns fail, Wave says to merge them. On a card, purchases positive and payments negative | -1245.30 |
Date,Description,Amount
2026-09-04,Grooming supply order,312.45
2026-09-11,Booking software,89.99
2026-09-18,"Payment, thank you",-1245.30
2026-09-23,Hydraulic table repair,640.00The statement went through ZeraBooks Convert as a Standard CSV, where money out is a minus (09/04/2026, -312.45 and so on, totaling 202.86). Wave wants the opposite on a card, so two quick edits in Excel: put =-C2 in a new column and fill down to flip the signs, and format the date column as yyyy-mm-dd before saving as CSV. The Wave file totals -202.86. Purchases 312.45 + 89.99 + 640.00 = 1,042.44. The previous balance of 1,245.30, plus 1,042.44 of purchases, minus the 1,245.30 payment, leaves 1,042.44, the new balance printed on the statement, so the file is complete. A checking account file needs neither edit to its signs: deposits are already positive. Wave also asks for a short file name (it suggests something like month-year-account.csv) and a real .csv: an Excel file has to be saved as CSV (comma delimited) first. Wave states plainly that it doesn’t support PDF files for transaction uploads.
We set you up and catch up your past months for free. Then ZeraBooks keeps your books done.
A REAL EXPORT
A real run in ZeraBooks Convert: the fictional Capital One sample statement CapitalOne_Spark_Cash_Plus_6031_Sep_2026.pdf, already proven to the cent, downloaded Standard as a CSV. The file that came out, Standard - CapitalOne_Spark_Cash_Plus_6031_Sep_2026.csv, has 13 rows with the columns Date, Description, Amount.
The format, picked in Convert
The file that downloaded
STEP BY STEP
The screens and buttons as Wave’s current help names them. The payment account must already exist in your Chart of Accounts.
On the left-side menu, click Accounting, then Transactions.
Click More at the top right and select Upload transactions.
Under Statement, click Choose File and select the CSV. In Payment Account, pick the bank or card account. Click Upload.
Choose the date column. With one date column, as in a ZeraBooks file, Wave picks it for you. Click Confirm date.
Choose the amount column, then click Confirm amounts. Wave asks for the deposits column on a checking account and the charges column on a card; a single signed column is picked automatically.
Choose the description column and click Select description. On Confirm import, check the highlighted columns, then click Upload my statement. The lines appear on the Transactions page after a few moments.
WHEN IT GOES WRONG
Each message Wave lists, what causes it and the fix, in Wave’s own order. A generic error with no message usually means a balance total row is still in the file. Delete it and upload again.
The CSV file must contain an amount, date and description column
WhyA column is missing, or two amount columns Wave won’t take.
FixKeep date, amount and description; merge deposits and withdrawals into one amount column.
Wave is having difficulty reading the file you uploaded
WhyMore than four columns, or a long file name.
FixDelete every other column (balance, type, reference); rename the file short.
Wave can’t find any transactions in your file
WhyAn empty file, or titles at the bottom.
FixPut the column titles in the top row and delete empty columns.
Wave is having difficulty reading the dates of your transactions
WhyTwo date columns, blank rows, a future date or a format Wave doesn’t read.
FixKeep one date column, delete blank rows, use YYYY-MM-DD.
Wave is having difficulty reading the amounts of your transactions
WhyWords, stray symbols or a currency sign after the number.
FixPlain numbers with a minus or brackets for negatives.
Wave can’t find a description of your transactions
WhyThe description column holds only numbers.
FixUse a description column with words.
The file you provided doesn’t match any format we support
WhyA PDF or an .xls file.
FixRe-save Excel as CSV; convert a PDF to CSV first.
File contains transactions in multiple currencies
WhyMixed currencies or unknown codes.
FixOne file per currency, uploaded to the matching account.
BEFORE YOU UPLOAD
ONLY A PDF
Wave won’t take it. That rules out older months your bank only keeps as PDFs, statements a client emailed you, and accounts at banks that never offered an OFX download. Retyping a month of lines invites a slipped digit that only shows up at reconciliation.
ZeraBooks Convert reads the PDF from any bank and gives you Date, Description and Amount, the 3-column shape Wave asks for, with no balance column to delete. Then add the date and, for a card, the sign edit from the example above, and upload. If you are bringing a year of statements across, one CSV per month keeps each upload easy to check; see combine bank statements if you would rather work from one file first.
WITH ZERABOOKS CONVERT
Convert reads, proves and downloads. You upload the file to Wave yourself; there is no Wave connection.
THREE COLUMNS
Download Standard as CSV: Date, Description, Amount, with money out as a minus and plain numbers with two decimals. That is three columns, under Wave’s limit, with one date column and one amount column so Wave fills in the Select date and Select amounts screens itself. Dates are written MM/DD/YYYY. Convert makes CSV and Excel only, not OFX or QBO. The steps for other software are in convert a bank statement to CSV.
Choose a download format
PROVEN FIRST
Every statement is checked against its printed opening and closing balance, to the cent, and one that doesn’t tie is flagged before you download. The same check is behind our QuickBooks CSV guide and the Xero import guide.
How Convert proves a statement
MORE IMPORT GUIDES
No. Wave’s help says it doesn’t support PDF files for transaction uploads. Convert the PDF to CSV first; ZeraBooks Convert does that and checks the lines against the statement’s balances.
If Wave can’t read your dates, its help says to use YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY-MM-DD, with no future dates and only one date column. In Excel, format the column as yyyy-mm-dd before saving.
Wave wants card purchases positive and payments negative. Most exports, including a ZeraBooks Standard file, show charges as negative, so flip the signs before uploading.
Wave’s help puts connecting a bank account for automatic imports on the Pro plan. Uploading a statement file is described as a separate option, through Upload transactions.
Three or four: date, description, and either one amount column or separate deposit and withdrawal columns. More than four triggers the “difficulty reading the file” error. Other programs differ: Zoho Books asks for an amount column type at import, and MYOB takes OFX or QIF rather than CSV.
No. ZeraBooks has no Wave connection; you upload the CSV yourself. Convert comes with the ZeraBooks subscription: 1,000 pages a month from $79 a month billed annually, after a 7-day trial.
FREE SETUP + CATCH-UP
Upload the statement to ZeraBooks Convert, download Standard CSV and upload it in Wave. 1,000 pages a month from $79 a month billed annually; see pricing. Outgrowing Wave? See AI bookkeeping in ZeraBooks.