How to upload a bank statement to FreeAgent

Checked against FreeAgent's own help pages in October 2026. Sources are at the end.

FreeAgent uploads bank statements as OFX, QIF or CSV files, not PDFs. A CSV for FreeAgent has three columns in a fixed order (date, amount, description), no header row and no quote marks. This page shows the exact rules, the upload steps and how credit cards work, plus how to turn a PDF statement into a file FreeAgent accepts.

If your bank has a feed into FreeAgent, use it for new transactions. A statement upload is for older periods, closed accounts and banks without a feed. Some banks also download OFX or QIF files, which FreeAgent prefers to CSV.

FreeAgent's CSV rules

Column A, date: dd/mm/yyyy.
Column B, amount: a number with 2 decimal places. Money in and money out in the same column, with a minus sign in front of money paid out. No commas.
Column C, description: a reference or short description, on one line.

Before uploading, FreeAgent asks you to check that the file has:

no header row;
dates as dd/mm/yyyy;
one amount column holding both money in and money out, with no commas in it;
no quote marks (") anywhere;
each description on a single line;
a .csv extension, not .xls or .xlsx.

Uploading a CSV needs access level 6 or above in FreeAgent.

Turn a PDF statement into a FreeAgent file

Upload the PDF on our converter, check the balance result, then download the FreeAgent file. It follows the rules above. There's no header, nothing is quoted, and any comma or line break inside a description becomes a space so the columns stay in place. These are the first rows from a sample UK statement:

03/10/2025,-86.40,Card payment to SCREWFIX DIRECT On 02 Oct
06/10/2025,450.00,Bill payment from ACME LETTINGS LTD Ref: INV 1042
06/10/2025,-32.00,Direct debit to VODAFONE LTD
10/10/2025,1240.50,Received from STRIPE PAYMENTS UK

FreeAgent is a UK program, so the FreeAgent download is offered for UK (pound) statements only.

Don't open the file in Excel and save it again before uploading. Excel can add quote marks or change the dates. If you need to edit it, use the Excel download and keep the FreeAgent file as it is.

Upload it into FreeAgent

Go to Banking at the top of the screen and select Bank Accounts.
Choose the account and select Upload Statement. You can also use Upload a Statement under Quick Links on the Overview screen, and FreeAgent asks which account.
Select Select a file and choose the file.
Leave Guess explanations for my transactions ticked if you want FreeAgent to suggest explanations from your past ones, or untick it.
Select Upload Statement.

Then explain the transactions as usual. An upload can be undone if you picked the wrong account or file.

Dates and duplicates

If the account already has transactions in FreeAgent, start the statement from the day after the last one. For an empty account, start from your FreeAgent start date. FreeAgent tries to spot duplicate transactions and ignore them, but it's better not to rely on that.

Credit card statements

For a card that belongs to the business, FreeAgent suggests setting it up as a bank account. Go to Banking, then Bank Accounts, select New and choose Credit Card Account. Upload card statements into that account. Purchases are money out (minus) and payments to the card are money in. Our converter writes card statements that way.

When you pay the card off from your bank account, explain that money out in the bank account as a transfer to the credit card account. Then it isn't counted as an expense.

Common problems

The upload is rejected. Check for a header row, quote marks or an .xlsx file. These usually come from saving the file again in a spreadsheet.
Dates are wrong or missing. FreeAgent reads dd/mm/yyyy only. A US-style mm/dd/yyyy file swaps day and month.
Money in shows as money out. The minus signs are on the wrong rows. Money paid out needs the minus.

Sources

Menus and button names change. If a step here no longer matches what you see, the program's own page is the one to follow, and tell us so we can update this guide.