Xero: "A column in the CSV file has data in the wrong format"
Xero’s own support article "Resolve errors when manually importing a bank statement" states the rule this error enforces in one sentence: "The date column must only contain data in a date format and the amount column must only contain numbers." One error, two independent halves — and Accounting Import Check checks both.
Built for bookkeepers, accountants and small-business owners preparing a bank, invoice or journal file for Xero or QuickBooks Online.
Read from Xero Central, Xero’s own support siteResolve errors when manually importing a bank statement — central.xero.com — read 7 September 2026
What this error means
Xero’s bank-statement importer checks two columns for shape before it checks anything else about a row: the Date column must contain something Xero can read as a date, in a single consistent format, and the Amount column must contain nothing but a number — no stray text, no note, no currency symbol. Either column failing that test raises this error, and Xero’s own article groups both under the same heading because they are, mechanically, the same class of problem: a column that does not hold what its field name promises.
What causes it, and what our engine actually checks
Accounting Import Check runs the same two checks, as two separate rules so each names exactly which column and row is wrong: dateUnparseable fires when a cell in a date-mapped column is not a date in any shape the tool recognises, and amountNotNumeric fires when a cell in an amount-mapped column does not parse as a number at all under the file’s own decimal convention. Neither rule guesses at a fix, because Xero’s own article agrees — both are described as something you have to review and correct yourself.
What the engine found in a sample file
Row 3’s Date cell held "See attached" instead of a date, raised as dateUnparseable and rated a blocker — a transaction with no readable date cannot be posted to a period. Row 4’s Amount cell held "see note" instead of a number, raised as amountNotNumeric and also a blocker. Every other row in the same file, carrying ordinary dates and amounts, raised nothing at all — the two findings point at exactly the two cells that do not fit Xero’s own rule.
dateUnparseableBlocker3“See attached”
amountNotNumericBlocker4“see note”
Blocker stops the import outright. Warning usually gets through but is worth checking before you trust the numbers. Notice is informational — safe to leave, safe to clear.
Reproduced from a sample file — read September 7, 2026.
Check your own file for this
Drop the file you were about to import below. It is read in this browser tab, the same engine runs the same check, and you will see immediately whether this exact problem is in it.
CSV, TSV or Excel, up to 20 MB
How to fix it by hand
Open the CSV in a spreadsheet program and filter the Date column for anything that is not a recognisable date — a note, a placeholder, or a range spanning two cells written into one — and replace it with the real transaction date from your statement. Do the same for the Amount column: anything that is not a plain number, including a note like “see attached” or a currency symbol, has to be replaced with the actual figure or removed if the row is not a real transaction.
Frequently asked questions
- "A column in the CSV file has data in the wrong format" — what does this Xero error mean?
- It means the Date column or the Amount column in your bank-statement CSV holds something Xero cannot read as that field — usually a note, a stray character, or text where a number belongs. Xero’s own support article names both causes in one sentence: the date column must only contain a date, and the amount column must only contain numbers.
- How do I know if it is the date or the amount causing this error?
- Xero’s own message does not say which column, only that one of them is wrong. Accounting Import Check checks both independently and names the exact row and column for each — dateUnparseable for the date half, amountNotNumeric for the amount half — so you do not have to search the file by hand.
- Can Accounting Import Check fix this error automatically?
- No, and Xero’s own guidance is the same: both findings need a person, because the correct date or amount only exists in your original bank statement. The tool tells you exactly which row and column to look at instead.
- Is this the same as Xero reading my dates in the wrong order?
- No — this error is Xero refusing a cell it cannot read as a date at all. A cell that does parse, but in the wrong day/month order for your organisation’s region setting, is a different and more dangerous problem: Xero accepts it silently and posts the transaction to the wrong period. Accounting Import Check’s dateAmbiguousOrder check is what catches that case.
What Accounting Import Check does with this file
Accounting Import Check reads every cell in your mapped Date and Amount columns before you import, and lists the exact row and the exact text it could not read as either a date or a number — the same two things Xero’s own error checks, shown to you before Xero ever rejects the file. Neither finding offers a one-click fix, matching Xero’s own guidance: the correct date or amount is a fact only your original statement holds, so a person has to supply it.
The file you'd check is read in your browser tab — it is never uploaded anywhere.
What it cannot do here
The tool cannot guess what date or amount a garbled cell was supposed to hold — it can only tell you which cell is wrong and why. It also does not check a date cell against your Xero organisation’s region setting once the cell does parse as a date; that is a different, silent problem — dateAmbiguousOrder — which this page is not about.