Which date format do I pick in Xero once the file is fixed?

DD/MM/YYYY, the one the file now uses. Xero only asks when a date could be read more than one way, and it keeps your choice for the whole statement and for every later CSV bank statement.

Does the date tool on this page upload my file?

No — it reads and rewrites the file in your browser tab, and nothing is sent anywhere.

What if my bank writes the month first?

A date like 04/15/2026 can only be month first, so the tool reads it that way and says so in its list of changes. A date like 03/04/2026, which could be either, is read day first, the order of the format it writes.

The file you uploaded does not contain valid statement data

Xero says a bank statement CSV has no valid statement data when its dates are not in the format it expects. Rewrite them as DD/MM/YYYY, in your browser.

What Xero found wrong

The file you uploaded does not contain valid statement data. Please check the file

Xero reads every date in a statement in one format: the one you confirm during the import, which it then keeps for the whole file and for every later CSV bank statement. A date written another way, such as 3 Jul 2026, or one with a space before or after it, cannot be read in that format, so Xero cannot read the statement and refuses the file. The formats Xero lists start with DD/MM/YYYY.

Xero Central

Fix the dates here, in your browser

Free, no sign-up. Your file is read in this browser tab and never uploaded.

Before and after

850 transactions

statement_dates.csv

3 Jul 2026¹Office Rent-1200.00

4 Jul 2026²Client Payment2450.00

Jul 7, 2026³Supplier Payment-350.00

08/07/2026Interest Credit12.40

9 Jul 2026⁴Card Fee-9.90

Do it in DocTransform

By hand: 5 stepsDocTransform: 1 sentence

1. Upload statement_dates.csv into DocTransform.
2. Type
Write Date as DD/MM/YYYY
and press Send. Check the step it adds; Undo takes it back.
Or by hand
Apply the fix: open the Date column’s ⋯ menu → Format dates… → pick the input format your dates are written in, output DD/MM/YYYY → Save Rule.
3. Download the cleaned file as CSV with Download, ready for Xero’s import.

Save this step once, then rerun it on your next Xero bank statement with one click.

Do it by hand in Excel or Sheets

Open statement_dates.csv in Excel: choose Data → From Text/CSV, set File Origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8) and click Load.
Select the Date column, press Ctrl+1, choose Custom, type dd/mm/yyyy and click OK.
If a date does not change, Excel is holding it as text: select the column, choose Data → Text to Columns, click Next twice, pick Date: DMY under Column data format, click Finish, then repeat the step above.
Choose File → Save As, pick CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv) and click Save.
In Xero, open Bank accounts, choose Import a Statement, upload the file and, when Xero asks for the date format, pick DD/MM/YYYY.

Questions

Which date format do I pick in Xero once the file is fixed?: DD/MM/YYYY, the one the file now uses. Xero only asks when a date could be read more than one way, and it keeps your choice for the whole statement and for every later CSV bank statement.
Does the date tool on this page upload my file?: No — it reads and rewrites the file in your browser tab, and nothing is sent anywhere.
What if my bank writes the month first?: A date like 04/15/2026 can only be month first, so the tool reads it that way and says so in its list of changes. A date like 03/04/2026, which could be either, is read day first, the order of the format it writes.

Fix your next Xero import in DocTransform

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