# Import Foreign Currency Bank Statement into Xero

- Author: SimpleBankConvert (https://www.simplebankconvert.com)
- Published: 2025-08-05
- Updated: 2025-08-05
- Category: Xero imports
- Canonical: https://www.simplebankconvert.com/blog/import-foreign-currency-bank-statement-into-xero

> How to import a foreign currency bank statement into Xero: set the account's currency, keep amounts in that currency and let Xero handle the rates.
To import a foreign currency bank statement into Xero, add the currency to your organisation, create a bank account in that currency, and upload the statement with its amounts exactly as the bank printed them. Do not convert anything first. Xero keeps the lines in the account's currency and applies exchange rates when it reports in your base currency.

## What does Xero need before a foreign currency bank statement can go in?

Xero needs three things in place: a pricing plan that includes multicurrency, the foreign currency added to your organisation, and a bank account set to that currency. Without the plan you cannot add the currency, and without the currency you cannot create the account. The statement import comes last.

[Xero's overview of multicurrency](https://central.xero.com/0/article/About-multicurrency) sets out the order. A few facts from it affect any business holding money abroad:

- Your base currency is chosen when the organisation is created, and you cannot change it afterwards. For a US organisation it is USD.
- You add each foreign currency to the organisation before you create a bank account or transaction in it.
- Once added, a currency cannot be deleted.
- Exchange rates come from XE.com and update in Xero every hour.

### Checking your plan

Try adding a foreign currency to your organisation. If you can, your plan includes multicurrency. If you cannot, the plan has to change before the account can exist, and only the subscriber can change it. Find this out before you spend time preparing statement files.

## Choosing the currency on a Xero bank account for foreign statements

A foreign currency bank account in Xero is an ordinary bank account with a different currency chosen at setup. Pick the currency the bank holds the money in, not the currency you report in. Xero selects your base currency by default, and you cannot change an account's currency once it has been saved.

[Xero's article on adding a bank or credit card account](https://central.xero.com/0/article/Add-a-bank-account-or-credit-card-account) covers the screen. For a foreign account, the fields that matter are:

1. **Account name.** Include the currency, such as "Operating EUR", so it cannot be confused with the USD account at the same bank. Xero requires each account name to be unique.
2. **Account type.** Choose the type that matches the account, or Other if none fits. Xero notes that bank feeds are not available for the Other type.
3. **Account number.** Up to 20 digits. Xero notes you can use this field for a foreign currency account.
4. **Currency.** Change it from the default to the account's currency.

The fixed currency is the step to get right. An account saved in USD by mistake cannot be switched to EUR. You would need to add a new account in the right currency and stop using the wrong one. The short guide to [adding a bank account in Xero before importing](/blog/add-a-bank-account-in-xero) goes through the rest of the setup, including the opening balance.

## Keeping foreign currency statement amounts in the account's own currency

Import the amounts exactly as they appear on the foreign statement. A EUR account's file should hold EUR amounts, with money out as negative and money in as positive. Converting to dollars before the upload gives the account the wrong balance, and Xero would then apply its own rate on top of yours.

### A worked example

Here is an example statement for a EUR account held by a US design studio. All names and values are made up:

```
Date,Amount,Payee,Description,Reference
06/02/2026,4200.00,Atelier Vogel GmbH,Client payment,INV 3107
06/05/2026,-1180.00,Studio Ruimte BV,Desk rental June,
06/11/2026,-64.90,Netzwerk Hosting,Website hosting,
06/19/2026,-15.00,Example Bank EU,Account fee,
06/26/2026,2750.00,Maison Clair SARL,Client payment,INV 3112
```

Every amount is in euros, and there is no currency symbol in any cell. The bank printed an opening balance of 9,500.00 EUR and a closing balance of 15,190.10 EUR. Add the five amounts, 5,690.10, to the opening balance and you reach the closing figure. That check works only because nothing was converted.

### A checklist before you upload

- The file holds one account and one currency.
- No amount has been converted or rounded.
- There are no currency symbols or codes inside the Amount column.
- The decimal mark is a full stop, even if the bank printed a comma.
- Dates are in one order throughout, and you know which order it is.
- Opening and closing balance rows are removed from the file.

European banks often print amounts such as 1.180,00, using a full stop for thousands and a comma for decimals. Change those to 1180.00 before saving the CSV, because a comma inside a number looks like a column break. The [Xero statement CSV guide](/blog/xero-bank-statement-import-csv) covers the column layout and quoting rules.

## How does Xero turn foreign currency statement lines into base currency figures?

Xero keeps each statement line in the account's own currency. The exchange rate comes in through the account transaction you reconcile the line to, which carries a rate for its date. Reports then show the account's balance revalued in your base currency, and the gains and losses that come from rate movements.

That split between the statement line and the transaction it is matched to matters more in a foreign account than anywhere else. The line records what the bank did, in euros. The transaction records what that meant for your books, in euros and in dollars. The guide to [Xero statement lines versus account transactions](/blog/xero-statement-lines-vs-account-transactions) explains the two sides in detail.

### Where the rate comes from

Xero takes its rates from XE.com and refreshes them hourly. The official rate for a day is the final rate at 11 pm, and the time zone in your financial settings decides when that is. You can see each account's balance revalued in your base currency, along with your total exposure per currency, in the Foreign Currency Gains and Losses report.

### Why your dollar figure differs from the bank's

Your bank converted money at its own rate, often with a margin. Xero uses a market rate. So when euros arrive in a USD account, the two figures rarely agree to the cent. That difference is a real gain or loss on the conversion, not an import error. Record it, do not adjust the imported amounts to hide it.

## The statement currency mismatch error on a Xero import

Xero refuses to complete an import when the statement's currency does not match the bank account's currency. OFX and QFX files carry a currency code of their own, so Xero can see the mismatch. The fix is to import the file into the account set to that currency, not to edit the code.

[Xero's page on resolving manual import errors](https://central.xero.com/0/article/Troubleshoot-a-bank-statement-manual-import-error) lists this case among the errors that appear when you try to complete an OFX or QFX import. The same section names another cause: an account locked until a certain date. Both stop the import at the last step, after the preview looked fine.

### Working through the error

1. Open the file and look for its currency. In an OFX file, it sits near the top as a three-letter code.
2. Compare it with the currency shown for the Xero account.
3. If they differ and the file is right, import it into the account with the matching currency. Create that account if it does not exist yet.
4. If the file itself is wrong, download it again from the correct account at the bank.

A CSV carries no currency code, so Xero cannot catch the mismatch for you. A EUR file imported into a USD account goes in without complaint and shows euros as dollars. Check the account name before every upload.

### Errors that look like this but are not

Bank feeds and QuickBooks show their own codes when a bank needs something from you. [QuickBooks error 108](/blog/quickbooks-error-108), for example, means the bank wants you to act on its website. It has nothing to do with currency, and the fix there does not apply to a Xero file import.

## Multi-currency bank statements that hold several balances

Some accounts hold several currencies under one login and send one statement that covers them all. Xero cannot take that as one file, because each Xero bank account has a single currency. Split the statement by currency and import each part into its own Xero account.

### Splitting the statement

1. Create one Xero bank account per currency the statement holds.
2. Export or convert the statement to CSV.
3. Sort by currency and cut it into one file per currency.
4. Check each file against that currency's opening and closing balance on the statement.
5. Import each file into its matching account.

### Conversions inside the account

When the bank converts money between two of its currencies, the statement usually shows the conversion as two lines: money out of one balance and money in to the other. Each line belongs in its own currency's file. In Xero, match both to a single transfer between the two accounts, so the conversion is not counted as income or expense.

### When not to import a combined file

Do not import a combined statement into one Xero account and fix it afterwards. Every line would carry the wrong currency, the balance would be meaningless, and undoing it means deleting statement lines one by one. Split first, check each file against its balance, then upload.

SimpleBankConvert is being built around digital PDF statements from US banks and credit cards, so a statement from a bank abroad may not convert cleanly. If a statement cannot be read, the homepage says you will be told instead of getting a file with mistakes. The [get started page](/get-started) adds you to the waiting list.