Sage Pastel bank transaction import guide

Sage Pastel import settings

Sage Pastel, the desktop accounting software common in South Africa (Pastel Partner, Pastel Xpress and Sage 50cloud Pastel), imports bank statements through the Bank Manager module. Bank Manager reads a statement file, matches each line to a ledger account by keywords in the description, and creates cashbook entries. The file formats it reads are OFX and CSV; check the exact list for the installed Pastel version, because Bank Manager is an add-on and its import options have changed between releases.

• OFX is the safer choice. It carries the date, the amount, a description, a reference and a unique transaction ID, and South African banks that offer a Pastel or Bank Manager download usually produce this structure.
• CSV works when the columns match what Bank Manager expects for the chosen bank layout, usually date, description and amount. A file from a different bank layout or with extra columns is refused or misread.

Settings that matter:

• Dates: DD/MM/YYYY, four-digit years. South African statements print day and month only, so the year must be set from the statement period.
• Amounts: signed, money out negative, no currency symbol, comma as thousands separator removed. Statements from FNB and other banks mark credits with Cr and leave debits unsigned; the converter must turn that into a sign before Bank Manager sees it.
• Currency: ZAR.
• Account: the cashbook or bank account in Pastel is selected in Bank Manager during import; the file's account number is for reference.
• Descriptions: Bank Manager's matching runs on keywords in the description. Keep the payee reference, such as Rent - Unit 13, in the description field, because that is what the mapping rules will key on next month.
• Transaction IDs: unique per row, so a re-import of the same period does not create the same cashbook entries twice.

Sage Business Cloud Accounting, the online product, imports OFX and CSV through Banking with a three-column CSV of date, description and amount, and asks for the date order during upload. The same file settings apply.

Sage Pastel questions

My bank does not offer a Pastel download. What now?

Convert the PDF or CSV statement to OFX and import that through Bank Manager. The result is the same as a bank download.

Why does Bank Manager show every line as unmatched?

Matching runs on keywords in the description. A converted file whose descriptions are truncated or replaced by the bank's transaction code gives the rules nothing to match. Keep the full description and the customer reference in the file.

Why are all amounts reversed?

The statement marks credits with Cr and prints debits without a sign. If the converter did not turn that into a minus on debits, money out appears as money in. Reconcile the first import to the statement closing balance before mapping anything.

Can I import an older period?

Yes. Bank Manager accepts any date range in the file. Import periods in order and do not overlap them, because it does not check for duplicates across files.

Does this apply to Sage Business Cloud Accounting?

Mostly. The online product imports OFX and a three-column CSV through Banking rather than through Bank Manager, and asks for the date order during upload. The file settings above are the same.