Converting a Wise statement to CSV is straightforward if you know where to look. Wise (formerly TransferWise) lets you download transaction data directly from your account dashboard in CSV, PDF, and other formats — but the export options vary depending on your account type and whether you hold multiple currencies. For UK businesses using software like Xero, QuickBooks, or FreeAgent, getting your Wise data into the right CSV structure can save hours of manual data entry and keep your records clean for HMRC.

Why Wise Statements Need Special Attention

Wise is not a traditional UK bank. It holds an e-money licence issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), rather than a full banking licence, which means it operates differently from Barclays or HSBC. This matters for bookkeeping because Wise accounts can hold balances in over 40 currencies simultaneously, and each currency balance generates its own transaction history.

When you download a statement from Wise, you are not always getting a single unified ledger. A UK business with a Wise account holding GBP, EUR, and USD will typically need to export three separate statements or carefully filter by currency. If you import a mixed-currency CSV directly into accounting software without reconciling the exchange rates, your accounts will not balance.

Wise also separates personal accounts from Wise Business accounts, and the export options differ between the two. Business account holders get more granular data, including the exchange rate applied to each conversion, which is exactly what you need for accurate bookkeeping.

How Do You Download a CSV From Wise?

Wise gives you a built-in export function, but the path to get there is not always obvious. Here are the steps for both account types.

For Wise Personal Accounts

1. Log in to your Wise account at wise.com
2. Select the currency balance you want to export (e.g., GBP)
3. Click on Activity or the transaction list for that balance
4. Look for the Download or Export option — usually a small icon near the top right of the transaction list
5. Choose your date range (Wise allows up to 5 years of history)
6. Select CSV as the file format
7. Download the file

Repeat this process for each currency you hold if you need a full picture of your Wise activity.

For Wise Business Accounts

1. Log in and navigate to your Business account
2. Go to Balances and select the relevant currency
3. Click Statement in the top right area
4. Set your date range
5. Choose CSV format
6. Download

Wise Business accounts also let you download a statement for your entire account activity across all currencies in one file, which is useful if you want to process everything in one go.

What Does a Wise CSV Actually Look Like?

Understanding the column structure of a Wise CSV export saves you time when importing into accounting software. A standard Wise CSV export includes the following columns:

Column	Description	Example
TransferWise ID	Unique transaction reference	1234567890
Date	Transaction date (YYYY-MM-DD format)	2025-11-14
Amount	Positive for credits, negative for debits	-250.00
Currency	The currency of the balance	GBP
Description	Merchant name or transfer note	Invoice #142
Payment Reference	Reference text added by sender	INV-142
Running Balance	Balance after the transaction	1,847.50
Exchange Rate	Rate applied (for conversions only)	1.1723
Payer Name	Name of the sender (incoming transfers)	Acme Ltd
Payee Name	Name of the recipient (outgoing transfers)	James Webb

One thing to watch: Wise uses YYYY-MM-DD date formatting, which is not the DD/MM/YYYY format that many UK accounting packages expect by default. If you import the file without adjusting the date format, transactions may land in the wrong month or throw an error entirely.

Also, currency conversion transactions appear as two separate rows in the CSV — one debit row in the source currency and one credit row in the target currency. You need to handle these as paired entries in your bookkeeping software rather than standalone transactions.

When the Wise Export Is Not Enough

Wise's built-in CSV export works well for straightforward accounts, but there are situations where the raw file needs cleaning before your accounting software will accept it:

• Column headers do not match your software's import template — Xero, for example, expects columns labelled Date, Amount, Payee, Description, Reference, and it will reject a file with different headers
• Multi-currency accounts produce multiple files — merging these manually risks introducing errors
• The running balance column causes import errors in some software that expects a two-column debit/credit split rather than a net amount
• Large files covering several years can be slow to process and may hit import row limits in certain software

This is where a dedicated bank statement converter makes the difference. Using the bank statement converter at convertbank-statement.com, you can upload your Wise PDF or CSV export and receive a clean, reformatted file mapped to the column structure your accounting software requires. The tool handles date format conversion, currency labelling, and debit/credit splitting automatically.

If you are working with Wise PDFs rather than CSV exports (for example, if you are processing statements on behalf of a client who only provided PDF copies), the converter can extract the transaction data and output a properly formatted CSV.

Does Wise Data Meet HMRC Record-Keeping Requirements?

HMRC requires UK businesses to keep records of all business income and expenditure, including bank and payment account transactions. Wise transactions count as business financial records and must be retained for at least 5 years after the 31 January Self Assessment deadline for sole traders, or 6 years for limited companies under the Companies Act 2006.

Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA), which applies to sole traders and landlords earning over £50,000 from April 2026 and those earning over £30,000 from April 2027, digital records of income and expenditure must be maintained in software that can submit directly to HMRC. Wise exports can feed into compliant software, but only once they are correctly formatted and imported.

HMRC does not specify a particular file format for your records, but your data must be accurate, complete, and accessible. A CSV file imported into Xero or FreeAgent satisfies this requirement. A folder of unprocessed PDFs does not.

For the full MTD for ITSA guidance, see the HMRC Making Tax Digital for Income Tax page.

Step-by-Step: Getting Wise Data Into Xero or QuickBooks

Here is a practical workflow for importing Wise transactions into UK accounting software.

1. Export from Wise — Download your CSV for the relevant currency and date range using the steps above
2. Check the date format — Open the file in a spreadsheet and confirm dates are in DD/MM/YYYY format; if not, use a find-and-replace or a converter tool
3. Rename the column headers — Xero requires: Date, Amount, Payee, Description, Reference. QuickBooks uses a similar structure but with slightly different labels
4. Split debit and credit if needed — Some software imports a net amount column; others need separate Debit and Credit columns with positive values only
5. Remove currency conversion pairs — Decide whether to import both legs of a conversion or just the net result, depending on how your chart of accounts is set up
6. Import and review — Use the software's bank rules feature to automatically categorise recurring transactions like supplier payments or subscription fees
7. Reconcile — Match imported transactions against your Wise closing balance for the period

For businesses processing Wise statements regularly, the pricing page at convertbank-statement.com has options suited to both one-off conversions and high-volume monthly workflows.

You can also compare Wise statement conversion against other bank formats in the best bank statement converter guide for 2026.

Sarah Mitchell is a chartered accountant with over 12 years of experience working with UK SMEs and e-commerce businesses, specialising in multi-currency bookkeeping and cloud accounting software migrations.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I download a Wise statement as a CSV directly from the app? Yes. In the Wise mobile app, go to the balance you want to export, tap the activity list, and look for the download or export icon. You can select a date range and choose CSV as the format. The desktop version at wise.com gives you more options, including full account exports for Wise Business users.

Why does my Wise CSV not import correctly into Xero? The most common reason is that Wise exports dates in YYYY-MM-DD format, while Xero expects DD/MM/YYYY. Other issues include column headers that do not match Xero's template and a net amount column instead of separate debit and credit columns. Reformatting the file manually or using a converter tool before importing usually resolves this.

Does Wise count as a UK bank account for HMRC purposes? Wise holds an e-money institution licence from the FCA rather than a full banking licence. However, HMRC treats money held in Wise accounts the same as money in a bank account for record-keeping and tax purposes. All business transactions through Wise must be included in your accounts.

How far back can I download Wise transaction history? Wise allows you to export up to 5 years of transaction history per currency balance. For most UK businesses, this covers the standard 5-year HMRC record retention period for Self Assessment, though limited companies should retain records for 6 years.

What should I do if I have Wise transactions in multiple currencies? Export each currency balance separately as its own CSV file. In your accounting software, set up a separate bank account for each currency (for example, a EUR account and a USD account alongside your GBP account). Import each CSV into the corresponding account and record currency conversions as transfers between accounts at the exchange rate shown in your Wise export.

Is there a row limit on Wise CSV exports? Wise does not publicly document a hard row limit, but very large exports covering several years of high-volume activity can be slow to generate and may be easier to manage if split into smaller date ranges (for example, by financial year). Most UK accounting software imports handle files up to a few thousand rows without issue.

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Last reviewed: 2026-03-25