Configure CSV Ports for import

  • 6 min.

With Continia Banking, you can establish an integration with third party payment providers, such as Klarna, Paypal, or even non-standard providers. This integration allows you to import any CSV statement files directly from external sources into a payment reconciliation journal.

To facilitate the import process of account transactions from external files, Continia Banking uses CSV ports that you can configure to match your specific needs for each payment provider. Importing and mapping data from CSV files involves configuring CSV parameters such as the separator, date format, delimiters, and whether amounts in specific columns should be inverted, such as for fees.

To import statement CSV files from third party payment providers, you need to first analyze the statement file from the provider, such as PayPal, and then configure a dedicated CSV port based on your findings. This setup ensures quick and accurate import of transactions coming from that specific provider and once configured, you can seamlessly import future statement files from the provider directly into the payment reconciliation journal without concerns about errors.

Analyze external statement files

Before you configure a new CSV port, it's crucial that you analyze the file you want to import and identify key elements, such as separators, delimiters, and other formatting details. In this way, you can ensure you import all the relevant information from the CSV file and that each column in the CSV file is mapped accurately to a corresponding field in Business Central.

We suggest you review the data in the file in detail and make note of the following before configuring the CSV port in Continia Banking:

  • Separator: Which character is used to separate the values on each line?

  • Delimiter: Which character is used to mark the beginning and end of a text string, for example, the description? It can be single or double quotes.

  • Column headings: Does the file have any headers and if so, does the file include just one or more headers?

  • Headers and footers: Are there any additional information at the beginning or end of the file that may affect data parsing?

  • Date format: Which format are dates presented in within the file? This is important to ensure accurate interpretation during import.

  • Posting descriptions: What information in the file do you want to use for matching during the reconciliation process?

  • Currency: Which currency denomination is used throughout the transactions?

CB CSV file example

Having identified these aspects of your statement file, you're ready to configure a CSV port for the specific provider and ensure the accurate and efficient import of bank transactions into Continia Banking.

Configure a CSV port

To create a new CSV port, search for and open the CSV Ports page, and then on the action bar, select New.

  • On the General FastTab, you specify the code and description for the new CSV port.

  • On the Setup FastTab, you configure the details that enables Continia Banking to parse the CSV file, which data to include or exclude in the import and how the imported data should be handled.

  • On the Positions FastTab, you map specific fields in Business Central to columns in the CSV file.

To indicate in which columns Continia Banking can locate the specific data in the CSV file, you can use column letters (for example, D,F,G), column numbers (for example, 4,5,6), or a combination of both (for example, D,4,5).

CB CSV Ports page Paypal example

Some few noticeable fields are:

  • The Posting Description field is used to indicate the position of the reference used for reconciliation.

  • The Alternative Posting Description field is used to map a secondary description if the primary posting description is empty. For instance, if the primary description is missing, the system will use the alternative description as reconciliation reference.

  • The two options Skip Lines From End and Skip Lines From Start allows you to define how many lines either from the top or bottom of the statement file that you want to exclude in the import. This is useful for excluding multiple header rows or any introductory text that does not require importing.

  • The Invert amount for Columns field is used to specify the columns in which the amount must be inverted upon import, such as when the line amount is displayed as a positive number and needs to be imported as a negative number.

Note

You can view the details for the other fields in the Setting up CSV Ports article on Continia Docs.

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