CSV Format - TaxReceipt.app Help

Supported File Formats

TaxReceipt.app accepts the following file types:

CSV -- comma-separated values (.csv)
Excel -- .xlsx and legacy .xls workbooks

Files up to 500 rows are validated instantly in the browser. Larger files are processed in the background on the server -- you will see a progress indicator while validation runs.

Uploading Your File

The Import page offers three tabs for where your data comes from: File (drag a CSV or Excel file onto the upload area, or click to browse), Google Sheets, and QuickBooks -- the latter two show a live connection status badge once an account is linked, so you can tell at a glance whether you need to (re)connect first. See QuickBooks Integration for that data source.

For a file upload specifically, you get one more step before field mapping: a raw-data preview shows the file's rows in a paginated grid (10-100 rows per page) with the total row and column counts. Click any cell to correct a value inline -- edited rows are marked with a small dot in the row number column, and the edited cell is highlighted so you can see what changed before it ever reaches mapping.

Required Columns

Every import file must include at least these three fields:

| Column | Description | Example | |--------|-------------|---------| | Donor name | Full name of the donor | Jane Smith | | Amount | Donation amount (numeric) | 150.00 | | Date | Donation date | 2025-12-15 |

Recommended Columns

Including these columns gives you more flexibility with templates and email delivery:

| Column | Description | |--------|-------------| | Email | Donor email address (required for email delivery) | | Address | Mailing address | | Receipt number | Your own numbering; auto-generated if omitted | | Phone | Donor phone number |

Column Naming Conventions

The auto-mapper recognizes common header names. Use any of these variations:

Name: donor_name, name, full_name, donor
Amount: amount, donation_amount, total, gift_amount
Date: date, donation_date, gift_date, received_date
Email: email, email_address, donor_email

If your headers do not match these patterns you can map them manually. See Field Mapping.

Sample Data

donor_name,email,amount,date
Jane Smith,jane@example.com,150.00,2025-12-15
John Doe,john@example.com,75.50,2025-12-20
Acme Corp,info@acme.com,1000.00,2025-12-31

Common Errors

Missing required column

Make sure your file has columns for donor name, amount, and date. Check for typos in column headers.

Invalid amount

Amounts must be plain numbers. Remove currency symbols ($), commas in large numbers (1,000 should be 1000), and trailing text.

Unrecognized date format

Use YYYY-MM-DD for best results. The system also accepts MM/DD/YYYY and DD/MM/YYYY but ambiguous dates (like 03/04/2025) may be misinterpreted.

Encoding issues

Save your CSV as UTF-8. Special characters (accented names, etc.) may display incorrectly with other encodings.

Field Mapping -- how auto-mapping and manual mapping work
QuickBooks Integration -- import donation transactions directly instead of a file
Import Templates -- save a mapping for reuse

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