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Wise Business CSV Import Troubleshooting: Common Errors and How to Fix Them (2026)

Wise CSVTransferWiseCSV import errorsmulti-currencyfreelancer bookkeepingEuropean CSV format

Wise Business CSV Import Troubleshooting: Common Errors and How to Fix Them (2026)

Transparency: I built Tally Assistant, which auto-parses Wise CSVs regardless of locale settings. This guide covers the root causes and fixes for Wise CSV import failures.

Quick Answer: Why Does My Wise CSV Keep Failing to Import?

Wise (formerly TransferWise) exports CSVs in European locale format by default — semicolon delimiters, comma decimals, and DD/MM/YYYY dates. Most bookkeeping tools (especially US-based ones) expect comma delimiters, period decimals, and MM/DD/YYYY dates. This mismatch causes three specific errors: "unparseable amounts," "date format not recognized," and "wrong number of columns."

Here's exactly what's happening and how to fix each one.

Error #1: "Wrong Number of Columns" or Garbled Import

What's happening

Wise uses ; (semicolon) as the CSV delimiter instead of , (comma). When your bookkeeping tool opens a semicolon-delimited CSV expecting commas, every row becomes one giant column.

How to check

Open your Wise CSV in Notepad (not Excel — Excel auto-converts). If lines look like this:

Date;Description;Amount;Currency;Balance
01/07/2026;Invoice payment from Client X;1.500,00;EUR;2.350,00

The ; separators are the problem.

Fix A: Convert in Excel/Google Sheets (3 minutes)

  1. Open Excel → Data → From Text/CSV
  2. Select your Wise CSV
  3. In the import wizard, set Delimiter: Semicolon
  4. File → Save As → CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)
  5. Re-import into your bookkeeping tool

Fix B: Use an AI-powered CSV tool (5 seconds)

Tools with AI CSV detection (Tally Assistant included) auto-detect semicolons vs commas and parse the file correctly regardless of delimiter. No manual conversion needed.

Error #2: Amounts Import as Ridiculous Numbers (1.500,00 → 150000)

What's happening

Wise uses European number formatting:

  • 1.500,00 = one thousand five hundred euros (comma = decimal, period = thousands separator)
  • US/UK tools expect 1,500.00 (period = decimal, comma = thousands separator)

Your tool reads 1.500,00 as either 1.500 (dropping the cents) or 150000 (treating comma as thousands separator).

How to check

Look at your CSV amounts. If you see numbers like 1.500,00 or 2 350,50, it's European format.

Fix A: Find & Replace (2 minutes)

In a text editor that won't auto-format (Notepad or VS Code):

  1. First: replace all . (periods used as thousands separators) with nothing
  2. Then: replace all , (commas used as decimals) with .
  3. Save and re-import

Example:

1.500,00 → remove periods → 1500,00 → replace comma → 1500.00 ✓
2.350,50 → remove periods → 2350,50 → replace comma → 2350.50 ✓

⚠️ Danger: If your CSV also has commas in text fields (descriptions like "Payment, thanks"), a naive find-replace will corrupt those fields. Always use a proper CSV parser or AI tool for CSVs with mixed content.

Fix B: Change Wise's Export Settings

Wise Business accounts can sometimes switch locale: Settings → Statements → Export format → English (US). This isn't available in all regions, but it's worth checking.

Fix C: AI Auto-Detection

AI CSV parsers recognize European vs US number formats based on context (is 1.500 more likely to be "one thousand five hundred" or "one dollar fifty"?). The detection is based on the number of digits, surrounding values, and currency context.

Error #3: Dates Import as Wrong Month or Errors

What's happening

Wise CSVs typically use DD/MM/YYYY (European) format. If your tool expects MM/DD/YYYY:

Wise CSV Date Tool Reads As Actually Means
03/07/2026 July 3, 2026 (wrong) March 7, 2026 ✓
15/06/2026 Error! (no month 15) June 15, 2026 ✓

Transactions on days 1-12 will silently import with swapped month/day. Transactions on days 13-31 will throw errors.

How to check

You'll notice: transactions from the first 12 days of each month are assigned to the wrong month. May transactions show as March, June as May, etc.

Fix A: Reformat in Google Sheets (5 minutes)

  1. Open CSV in Google Sheets (it auto-detects European dates)
  2. Select the Date column → Format → Number → Date
  3. Choose the US format (MM/DD/YYYY)
  4. Download as CSV
  5. Re-import

Fix B: AI Auto-Detection

An AI parser looks at the date string and asks: "Is this DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY?" It determines the answer by:

  • If numbers > 12 appear in the first position, it's DD/MM
  • If numbers > 12 appear in the second position, it's MM/DD
  • Cross-referencing with the export locale setting Wise was configured with

Error #4: Multi-Currency Balances Make No Sense

What's happening

Wise multi-currency accounts show each currency balance independently. If you hold EUR, GBP, and USD, the CSV may have rows where:

EUR transaction → EUR balance changes
GBP transaction → GBP balance changes
USD conversion → both EUR and USD balances change

The Balance column only reflects that specific currency's balance, not your total across all currencies.

Fix

Ignore the Balance column for bookkeeping. Focus only on:

  • Amount — the transaction amount in the original currency
  • Currency — which currency this transaction is in
  • Exchange Rate (if available) — for conversions

Record each transaction in its original currency, then convert to your base currency using the daily rate. Let your bookkeeping tool handle cross-currency totals.

Error #5: Wise Business vs Personal CSV Format Differences

Wise Business accounts export a slightly different CSV than personal accounts:

Feature Personal Account CSV Business Account CSV
Delimiter Semicolon ; Semicolon ; or Comma , (region-dependent)
Columns Date, Description, Amount, Currency, Balance Date, Description, Amount, Currency, Balance, TransferWise ID, Merchant
Multi-currency One currency per statement Multiple currencies in one file
Statement period Per-currency, monthly All currencies, custom range

If you recently upgraded from Wise Personal to Wise Business, your import process will break because the column layout changed. Re-check your import settings.

The Nuclear Option: AI CSV Import That Handles Everything

If you've read this far, you know Wise CSVs are a pain. The root cause is simple: Wise is a European company that defaults to European locale settings, and most bookkeeping tools are built for US formats.

AI-powered CSV import (Tally Assistant and similar tools) solves all five errors at once:

  1. Auto-detects delimiter (semicolon vs comma)
  2. Recognizes number format (European vs US) from context
  3. Infers date format by checking which position has values > 12
  4. Handles multi-currency — records original currency + base currency conversion
  5. Adapts to layout changes — if Wise adds or renames columns, AI re-maps by meaning

Quick Troubleshooting Checklist

When your Wise CSV won't import, check these in order:

  • Open in Notepad — does it use ; instead of ,?
  • Look at numbers — are decimals commas (1.500,00)?
  • Check dates — are days 13-31 erroring out? (DD/MM vs MM/DD issue)
  • Multi-currency? — are there rows with different currencies?
  • Business vs Personal? — did the column layout change after upgrading?
  • Check Wise's export settings — can you switch to English (US) locale?

Bottom Line

Wise is excellent for international banking. Its CSV exports are not. The semicolon-delimited, European-formatted, multi-currency CSVs break most bookkeeping imports in predictable ways. The fixes above work, but if you process Wise CSVs regularly, an AI tool that handles all these formats automatically pays for itself in one month of saved troubleshooting time.

Next steps:

  • Try the manual fixes above (free, 5-15 minutes)
  • Or: import your Wise CSV with AI — reads any format, any locale, any currency (free, no credit card)