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BrightBooks Bank Feeds – Guide & Troubleshooting (Automatic Live Feeds & CSV Imports)

Shannon Brady
  • Updated

 

1. What Are Bank Feeds?

Bank feeds bring your bank transactions into BrightBooks so you don’t have to type them in manually.

You can do this in two ways:

  1. Automatic (live) bank feeds – BrightBooks connects directly to your bank and pulls in transactions for you.
  2. CSV bank feeds – you download a CSV file from your online banking and upload it into BrightBooks.

Both methods end up in the same place: your BrightBooks bank account, ready for reconciliation.

 

2. Automatic (Live) Bank Feeds

2.1 What live feeds do

Once your bank is connected:

  • New transactions are imported automatically.
  • You can set rules so BrightBooks can recognise and allocate regular items (e.g., rent, direct debits).
  • You save time and reduce manual entry.
 

2.2 How to connect your bank

  1. Go to Banking > Bank Accounts.
  2. Add or open the bank account you want to connect.
  3. Use Connect to my bank (via the three dots menu).
  4. Follow the steps:
    • Choose your bank.
    • Log in via your bank’s secure page.
    • Authorise BrightBooks to access your transaction data.
 

2.3 Common live feed problems & fixes

A. “No eligible accounts” / “Permissions” / “Authorisation” messages

If you see messages saying there are no eligible accounts or that there are permission/authorisation issues, it usually means:

  • Your bank account is not enabled for third‑party/open banking access, or
  • The login you’re using doesn’t have permission to authorise third‑party connections.

What you should do:

  • Contact your bank and ask:
    • Are third-party/open banking connections enabled on my account?
    • Does my online banking login have permission to authorise these connections?
  • Once confirmed, try connecting to your bank again.
 

B. Feed was working but stops importing

If the feed used to work but now no new transactions appear, or you get generic errors:

Fix: disconnect and reconnect the feed

  1. Go to Banking > Bank Accounts.
  2. Click the name of the affected bank account.
  3. Go to Advanced.
  4. Click Disconnect my bank, then Save.
  5. Back on the Bank Accounts screen, click the three dots next to the bank.
  6. Choose Connect to my bank and follow the steps again.
  7. Once reconnected, import feeds.
 

3. CSV Bank Feeds

3.1 What a CSV bank feed is

A CSV bank feed is a file you download from your online banking that lists your transactions (dates, descriptions, amounts, balances, etc.).

You then upload this file into BrightBooks so it can create or update bank transactions for you.

Key points:

  • The CSV file comes from your bank, not from BrightBooks.
  • Different banks use different layouts and formats.
  • BrightBooks needs at least a date and amount for each transaction.
 

3.2 How to get the CSV from your bank

Typical steps (exact wording varies by bank):

  1. Log in to your online banking.
  2. Go to your statement or transaction history.
  3. Look for Export or Download.
  4. Choose CSV as the file type.
  5. Save the file to your computer.
 

3.3 How to import the CSV into BrightBooks

  1. Go to Banking > Bank Feeds.
  2. Choose New (or Import Bank Feed / Import CSV).
  3. Upload the CSV file you downloaded from your bank.
  4. Follow the prompts:
    • Choose the correct CSV template type (for example, BOI365).
  5. Complete the import and then review the transactions.
 

4. A “Safe” CSV Layout to Avoid Problems (BOI365)

Because banks use different formats, you might see errors when importing. To avoid this, convert your file into a simple, standard layout that BrightBooks understands well.

 

4.1 Use these exact headings

Create or adjust your CSV so row 1 has these headings, each in its own cell:

  • Date
  • Details
  • Debit
  • Credit
  • Balance

Then import using the CSV type BOI365.

 

4.2 How to rebuild a clean CSV from a problem file

If your original CSV is causing errors (e.g., “invalid file type”, “extra commas”), do this:

  1. Open Excel (or similar).
  2. Create a new workbook.

  3. On row 1, type the headings:

    • Date | Details | Debit | Credit | Balance
     
  4. Open your original bank CSV and:
    • Copy the transaction data into the new file under the matching headings.
    • Ignore any extra columns you don’t need (e.g., transaction type, category).
  5. Check:
    • There are no extra spaces before or after the headings.
    • All values are formatted as General (not text with hidden characters).
    • There are no commas inside numbers (use 1000.00, not 1,000.00).
  6. Save the new file as CSV.
  7. In BrightBooks, go to Banking > Bank Feeds > New and import using template BOI365.
 

4.3 If the bank account is locked to another template

If you’ve imported CSVs for this bank before, the account might be locked to a different template. To switch it to BOI365:

  1. Go to General Ledger > Chart of Accounts.
  2. Open the bank nominal code for that account.
  3. Change the template type to BOI365.
  4. Save.
  5. Then import your new CSV via Bank Feeds > New using BOI365.
 

5. CSV Import Errors – Quick Troubleshooting

5.1 “Invalid file type” / “Extra commas” / generic errors

Check these points:

  • Headings
    • Row 1 must have clean headings (no extra spaces).
    • For BOI365, they must be exactly: Date, Details, Debit, Credit, Balance.
  • Formatting
    • Cells should be General format.
    • Avoid currency symbols and commas inside numbers.
  • Commas
    • Remove commas from amounts (e.g. change 1,000.00 to 1000.00).
  • File type
    • Make sure you saved as CSV, not Excel (.xlsx) or another format.

If it still fails, rebuild the file using the BOI365 method in section 4.2.

 

5.2 Missing date or amount columns

If your bank’s CSV doesn’t include a date or amount (debit/credit) column, BrightBooks cannot import it.

You’ll need to:

  • Re‑export from your bank using a format that includes date and amount, or
  • Add those columns manually in Excel and fill them in from your bank data.
 

5.3 Date or amount format issues

If dates or amounts look wrong or cause errors:

  • Convert dates to a standard format (e.g., DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY‑MM‑DD).
  • Remove currency symbols and commas from amounts.
  • Make sure amounts are plain numbers (e.g. 123.45).
 

After importing, always:

  • Check that the dates and balances look correct.
  • If something is clearly wrong, correct the CSV and re‑import.
 

6. Should I Use Live Feeds or CSV?

Use live feeds if:

  • Your bank is supported for automatic connections.
  • You want transactions to come in regularly with minimal effort.
  • You’re happy to authorise BrightBooks to access your bank data via open banking.
 

Use CSV feeds if:

  • Your bank is not supported for live feeds.
  • You prefer to control exactly what is imported and when.
  • You need to import older transactions that aren’t available via the live feed.

You can also use both: live feeds for day‑to‑day activity, and CSV imports for historical data or special cases.