Dext offers different CSV export formats depending on whether you're exporting cost items, sales items, or bank transactions. Some use Dext's own default column layout, and others match the import layout of a specific accounting software. This article explains what each format includes, so you can choose the right one for your accounting software.
Cost export formats
The cost export formats cover anything in the Costs workspace: cost items such as receipts, invoices, and credit notes, as well as expense claims.
The Dext default formats
The 5 Dext default formats all use the same core columns for supplier, category, and amount, but vary in how much tax, payment, and line item detail they include.
Dext default: one row per item, with a combined payment method and bank account column, and a single tax amount.
Dext default with tax: adds separate Tax Name, Tax Code, and Tax Percentage columns for the tax rate applied to the item.
Dext default (line items): breaks each item into one row per line item. The first row shows the item's own overall category and total, and each row after that shows the category, project, and amount for one line item.
Dext default with tax (line items): combines the tax breakdown columns with the line item row structure above.
Dext default with payment details: replaces the combined payment method and bank account column with 2 separate columns, Payment Method Name and Payment Method Reference, so you get the account name and number separately.
Format | Rows per item | Tax breakdown | Separate payment details |
Dext default | One row per item | No | No |
Dext default with tax | One row per item | Yes | No |
Dext default (line items) | One row per line item | No | No |
Dext default with tax (line items) | One row per line item | Yes | No |
Dext default with payment details | One row per item | No | Yes |
Tip: You can also build your own column layout instead of using a default format. For instructions, go to How to create a custom CSV export in Dext.
Software-specific cost formats
Alongside the Dext default formats, Dext offers formats built to match the CSV or batch-import layout of a specific accounting software: Sage 50 UK, VT Transaction+, E-conomic, QuickBooks, and QuickBooks Desktop US.
Sage 50 UK
The Sage 50 UK format matches the batch import layout Sage 50 Accounts uses for purchase transactions.
Type: the Sage transaction type code. Dext exports PI for cost items.
Account Reference: the supplier's account code in Sage, synced from Sage 50 when your account is integrated with it.
Nominal A/C Ref: the category, exported as the nominal (chart of accounts) code the transaction should post to.
Department Code: the project assigned to the item in Dext, if any, for departmental analysis in Sage.
Tax Code: the tax rate name applied to the item in Dext.
Description: a link to the item's receipt or invoice image, so you can open the original document from Sage.
VT Transaction+
The VT Transaction+ format matches VT Software's Universal Input Sheet, the layout VT Transaction+ uses to import transactions. This is the only software-specific format available for both cost and sales exports — the Type code changes depending on the document type.
Type: the VT transaction type code. Dext exports PIN for cost items (see the Sales export formats section below for the sales equivalent).
Primary account: the supplier name.
Details: the invoice or document reference number.
Analysis and Analysis account: together record the net amount and the Dext category it should post to, so VT Transaction+ can split the invoice across nominal codes.
Entry details: a link to the item's receipt or invoice image.
Transaction notes: always set to "Imported from Dext", so you can identify these transactions in VT Transaction+.
E-conomic
The E-conomic format matches Visma e-conomic's purchase voucher layout, and is intended for e-conomic's Nordic-market accounts.
Entry number and Entry type: the Dext item ID and document type.
Amount and Tax: the item's totals in its original currency.
Amount (domestic currency) and Tax (domestic currency): the same totals converted to GBP, matching e-conomic's dual-currency fields for foreign currency purchases.
QuickBooks
The QuickBooks format is a simplified transaction file with the core fields needed to record a supplier expense: date, invoice number, supplier, description, account name, tax code, and net, tax, and total amounts.
QuickBooks Desktop US default
The QuickBooks Desktop US default format includes the core fields for a vendor bill: date, invoice number, supplier, due date, category, total, and description. QuickBooks Desktop imports CSV files through its own column-mapping tool, so check each column lines up with the correct field when you import.
Sales export formats
The sales export formats cover sales invoices and other sales documents.
The Dext sales default formats
The 3 Dext sales default formats always export one row per line item, rather than one row per item — so an invoice with multiple lines produces one row for each line, each with its own category, project, and amount. This is different from the cost default formats, which need the separate "(line items)" variant to break out individual lines.
Dext sales default: one row per line item, with the category, project, and tax and total amounts for that line.
Dext sales default with tax: adds separate Tax Name, Tax Code, and Tax Percentage columns for the tax rate applied to that line.
Dext sales default with payment details: adds separate Payment Method Name and Payment Method Reference columns, so you get the account name and number separately.
Software-specific sales format
VT Transaction+ is currently the only software-specific format available when exporting sales items.
VT Transaction+
The Sales export uses the same VT Transaction+ layout described in the Cost export formats section above, with one difference: the Type column exports SIN for a sales invoice, instead of PIN.
Bank transaction export formats
The bank transaction export formats cover transactions in the Bank workspace, and are different from the cost and sales formats above. Bank transactions can come from an uploaded bank statement, a connected Bank feed, or a bank account synced from your accounting software — but wherever they come from, they all appear together in Bank > Transactions and use the same set of export formats.
Dext's generic bank transaction format
If none of the software-specific formats apply to you, Dext also offers a generic bank transaction format.
Standard Dext Excel
The Standard Dext Excel format is Dext's own generic bank statement layout, exported as an Excel file rather than a CSV. It uses separate Debit and Credit columns instead of a single signed amount, plus a Balance column for reference.
Software-specific bank transaction formats
Each bank transaction format matches the bank feed or bank statement import layout of a specific accounting software.
QuickBooks Online
The QuickBooks Online format matches QuickBooks Online's own bank statement CSV import: Date, Amount, Description, Reference, and Cheque Number. Amount is a single signed figure — negative for money paid out, positive for money paid in.
Xero (UK Dates) and Xero (US Dates)
Both Xero formats use the same columns as the QuickBooks Online format above — Date, Amount, Description, Reference, and Cheque Number — matching Xero's own bank statement CSV import. The only difference is the date format: choose Xero (UK Dates) for a day/month/year organisation, or Xero (US Dates) for a month/day/year organisation.
Sage Accounting
The Sage Accounting format matches Sage Accounting's (Sage Business Cloud Accounting) bank feed CSV import, with just 3 columns: Date, Reference, and a signed Amount.
Sage Accounting SA
The Sage Accounting SA format is the South Africa edition of the Sage Accounting format above, with a Description column in place of Reference.
Sage 50 UK
The Sage 50 UK bank transaction format matches Sage 50 Accounts' batch import for bank payments and receipts, and uses different columns from the Sage 50 UK cost format described earlier.
Type: BP for a bank payment (money out) or BR for a bank receipt (money in).
Account Reference: defaults to 1200, Sage's standard nominal code for the bank current account.
Nominal A/C Ref: left blank for you to fill in with the account each transaction should post to.
Net Amount: a signed figure — negative for a payment, positive for a receipt.
KashFlow
The KashFlow format matches KashFlow's bank import layout, using separate MoneyOut and MoneyIn columns instead of a single signed amount.
FreeAgent
The FreeAgent format matches FreeAgent's bank statement import, which doesn't use a header row — just Date, Description, and a signed Amount.
VT Transaction+
The VT Transaction+ bank transaction format is a simple 3-column layout — Date, Reference, and a signed Amount — and is different from the Universal Input Sheet layout VT Transaction+ uses for cost and sales exports, described earlier in this article.
Choosing the right CSV format
Which CSV format to choose depends on whether you're exporting costs, sales, or bank transactions, whether you use one of the supported accounting software, and how much detail you need in each row.
If you don't use one of the supported software packages, or want to work with the data before importing it elsewhere, use one of the Dext default, Dext sales default, or Standard Dext Excel formats.
If you use one of the supported software, use the matching software-specific format so the columns align with that software's import layout.
For cost items, if none of the built-in formats fit your needs, set up a Custom CSV Export to choose your own columns.
Next steps
For more on exporting and setting up your CSV formats, go to these related articles:
For step-by-step instructions on exporting costs or sales items, go to How to export items as a CSV file.
To build your own column layout for costs, go to How to create a custom CSV export in Dext.
For bank transactions, go to How to view and export bank transactions in Dext.