When you don't have a direct connection to your bank, you can import transactions into Pillar starting from the bank statement file. With this feature you can:
📄 Upload a bank statement in PDF, Excel or CSV and turn it into transactions, with no manual entry.
📑 Upload several statements at once, even from different periods.
🏦 Assign transactions to a virtual account of type Cash account or Credit card.
📁 Add new statements whenever you want: each upload adds to the transactions already there, without ever overwriting them.
✍️ Edit the category and description of every imported transaction.
How to do it?
From the menu on the left, go to Accounting, then in the Cash section click Transactions. From here you can start in two ways:
Click Import bank statement, the button in the top right of the page.
If you don't have any transactions yet, click Import bank statement in the centre of the empty page, or drag the file straight into the highlighted area.
When you click Import bank statement, a window opens where you choose the account and upload the files. In the Virtual account field, open the dropdown and choose the account you want to add the transactions to.
‼️ The choice is manual: Pillar reads the file only afterwards, so at this point it can't suggest the right account. Be careful to pick the correct one.
If the account doesn't exist yet, click the + next to the dropdown. The New virtual account window opens:
Enter the Account name, using a recognisable name (for example "Banco do Brasil" or "Visa card").
Choose the Account type: Cash account or Credit card.
Click Create account. You return to the import with the new account already selected.
In the Bank statement field, click Choose file and select one or more statements. Then click Confirm: Pillar reads the files and extracts the transactions ✨
‼️ The supported formats are PDF, Excel and CSV, up to 5 MB per file.
What happens after the upload?
Pillar creates a transaction for every line found in the statement and adds it to the account you chose. On each one you can edit the category and description, just like the other transactions in Pillar.
ℹ️ Each upload adds transactions, it doesn't replace them. Transactions already there stay unchanged, including any invoices you've linked.
No duplicates between one upload and the next
Pillar recognises on its own the transactions you've already uploaded and doesn't repeat them. If you re-upload the same statement, or two statements that overlap, identical transactions (same date and same amount) are imported only once. The check applies across all your accounts and happens automatically, without asking you anything.
If the file isn't valid
Before creating any transactions, Pillar checks the file. If it isn't a bank statement or can't be read, a message appears and no transaction is created:
🤖 "We couldn't recognise the information needed to create the transactions in the file. Check that the file is really a bank statement document and try again."
In this case, check that the file really is the bank statement sent by your bank. If the problem persists, try downloading it again in another format (PDF, Excel or CSV) and re-upload it.
💡 For a tidy import
✅ Check the account before you confirm: choosing the account and uploading happen together, and Pillar won't fix the account for you.
🏷️ Use a recognisable name for the virtual account, so you can spot the transactions at a glance.
👀 After the import, review the transactions and fix the category and description where needed.
🔄 If the upload gives an error, download the statement from your bank again in PDF, Excel or CSV and try once more.