Import a bank statement into Xero in Singapore

Xero Central keeps PDF statement imports to two countries, and Singapore is not one of them, so a statement held as a PDF needs another file type before a Singapore organisation can load it. Xero can load a CSV, which ExtractPro writes from the PDF. This guide sets out the PDF limit, the account types that Xero lists for its DBS, OCBC and UOB feeds, the shape Xero asks of a CSV file, and the ExtractPro options that write that file.

Xero and PDF statements

On PDF files Xero is explicit. Its help article on importing a PDF statement carries this sentence: “PDF bank statement imports are currently only available in Xero organizations in Canada and the United States.” The list stops at those two countries. Source: Xero Central, Import a PDF bank statement, central.xero.com/s/article/Import-a-PDF-bank-statement, accessed 8 October 2026.

What the DBS, OCBC and UOB feeds list

For DBS, Xero’s page has a heading, “Eligible account types”, with two items under it, “Business Digital Accounts” and “Corporate Multi-Currency Accounts”, and a sentence: “You can only set up bank feeds for parent company accounts in DBS IDEAL online banking.” For an account outside the list the same page says: “If your account type isn't eligible for a direct feed, manually import your bank statements.” Source: Xero Central, DBS Singapore Bank direct feeds, central.xero.com/s/article/DBS-Singapore-Bank-direct-feeds, accessed 8 October 2026.

Xero’s OCBC page lists three account types, “Business checking accounts”, “Business saving accounts” and “Business foreign currency accounts”, and adds “This service is provided to Velocity@OCBC Authorisers who have Standard and Classic packages”. Source: Xero Central, OCBC Bank Singapore direct feeds, central.xero.com/s/article/OCBC-Bank-Singapore-direct-feeds, accessed 8 October 2026.

The UOB page lists other types under “Eligible account types”: “Everyday (day-to-day) accounts” and “Foreign currency accounts”. It then says: “If your account type isn’t eligible for direct feeds, see if a Yodlee feed is available or manually import your bank statements.” Source: Xero Central, United Overseas Bank (UOB) direct feeds, central.xero.com/s/article/United-Overseas-Bank-UOB-direct-feeds, accessed 8 October 2026.

For an account without a feed, Xero’s own advice is a manual import of the statements. A CSV written from the statement is one way to carry that out.

What Xero requires of the CSV file

• Fields: “You only need the Date and Amount fields to create bank statement lines”.
• Amounts: “Show income as positive amounts and expenses as negative amounts using a negative sign in front of the amount or with brackets, for example -30.00 or (30.00). Don't use commas to show decimal places.”
• Balances: “Columns containing opening and closing balances, as Xero calculates the bank balance from the transactions” are among those Xero tells you to delete.
• Dates: the example Xero gives is “DD/MM/YYYY (eg 15/01/2023)”.
• Rows: “You can’t import a CSV file with more than 100,000 rows.”

Source: Xero Central, Import a CSV bank statement, central.xero.com/s/article/Import-a-CSV-bank-statement, accessed 8 October 2026.

Setting the ExtractPro options

Start from a statement you have already converted, and follow the panel in this order:

1. 1Open Output format, then See more formats or customise, and choose Custom.
2. 2Set File type to CSV.
3. 3Set Date format to DD/MM/YYYY (15/01/2026), the order of Xero’s own example.
4. 4Under Amounts, choose Single column (signed), which puts money out as negative and money in as positive in one column.
5. 5Under Include balance, untick Add Balance column, and leave Categories unticked. Each line is then a date, a description and an amount.
6. 6Set CSV separator to Comma (,) and Number format to Decimal point, no separator (1234.56), so an amount is written 1234.56 without a comma inside it.
7. 7Click Apply format and download the CSV.

Loading it into Xero

The import itself is laid out in Xero’s CSV article. You begin in the Accounting menu: “In the Accounting menu, select Bank accounts.” Another step is “click the menu icon, then select Import a Statement.” and the final one is “Click Complete import.” Dates come up as well: “If prompted, select the date format used in your bank statement”. Pick DD/MM/YYYY at that prompt, as you did in the ExtractPro panel, and the two match. Source: Xero Central, Import a CSV bank statement, central.xero.com/s/article/Import-a-CSV-bank-statement, accessed 8 October 2026.

Open the CSV beside the statement before the import and confirm that the same transactions are in it and that the amounts add up to the movement for the period. When the lines are in Xero, compare them with the statement again.

Frequently asked questions

The questions that come up most: