Citi statement to Xero: download, convert and import

Xero can take Citi data three ways: a bank feed (going forward), a file download for recent activity, and PDF statements for older months (imported directly where Xero offers that, or converted to CSV). Catch-up and clean-up work usually needs the last two.

1. Recent activity: the Citi download

In Citi online, open the account activity and use the Download option, then choose the time period and a format. The formats offered (such as CSV or Quicken files) and how far back you can go vary by account, so check your online banking. For bank downloads, Xero recommends OFX, QFX or QuickBooks files where offered, or CSV otherwise, so pick a Quicken (QFX/OFX) option if it is offered, or CSV otherwise. The date range on offer is shown in the download dialog and is usually shorter than the statement archive.

2. Older months: PDF statements

Use Statements (account menu) to download billing-period PDFs. Save one PDF per statement period and name it by account and period (for example 4821_2025-03.pdf) so a missing month is obvious.

In Xero organizations in the US and Canada (not on the Xero Ledger plan), you can import a PDF statement directly through Import a statement. Xero lists Citi among the banks whose selected statement types have validated PDF extraction, sets limits (English, 35 MB, 100 pages, at least 200 DPI, no password), and still recommends OFX over PDF where the bank offers it (Xero Central, Import a PDF bank statement). Otherwise, or if you want to check every month before it goes in, convert each PDF to CSV as below.

3. Shape the CSV for Xero

• Xero's bank statement CSV needs at least Date and Amount, plus a payee or description. Download Xero's own template from the import screen and match its columns.
• Use one signed Amount column: money into the account positive, money out negative.
• Keep one date format throughout the file, and choose the matching format in Xero's import step.
• Delete summary rows (totals, balance lines, rewards tables). They are not transactions.

Citi-specific things to watch

• Citi card statements follow billing cycles, not calendar months, so tie out to the cycle closing balance.
• In a Xero credit card account, purchases, interest and fees are money out (negative) and payments and credits are money in (positive). Check the sign of a few known purchases in the preview before you import.
• Interest and fees often appear in a separate section near the end of the statement. Make sure they are in the file.
• For business cards with several employees, merge the per-card sections into one file for the account and sort by date.

4. Tie out before you import

1. For each statement: opening balance + all amounts = closing balance.
2. Chain the periods: each closing balance must equal the next opening balance.
3. If a month doesn't tie, find the gap now. It is much harder to find after the lines are reconciled in Xero.

5. Import into Xero

1. In Xero go to Accounting → Bank accounts, open the account's menu and choose Import a statement.
2. Upload the file, map the columns and check the preview.
3. If a bank feed is already connected, import only dates before the feed started, or you will get duplicate statement lines.
4. Reconcile the imported lines, then compare Xero's statement balance with the PDF's closing balance.

Troubleshooting: see Xero bank statement import errors. For QuickBooks instead, see Citi to QuickBooks. Need months older than your Xero bank feed? See importing older transactions into Xero. More on signs and billing cycles: credit card statement PDF to CSV.

Bank menus change; labels here were accurate to our knowledge in Oct 2026, so check your bank's help pages if something differs.