Import from YNAB

How to export your transactions from YNAB (You Need A Budget) and import them into Forbidden Finance.

Overview

If you are switching from YNAB (You Need A Budget), you can bring your transaction history into Forbidden Finance with a CSV and JSON import. YNAB exports include your dates, payees, categories, memos, and inflow/outflow amounts. Forbidden Finance auto-detects the YNAB format and handles the separate inflow/outflow columns automatically.

How to Export from YNAB

Open YNAB in a browser

Navigate to your account

Click on the account you want to export from in the left sidebar. To export all accounts at once, click All Accounts at the top of the sidebar.

Export to CSV

Click the Export button (it may appear as a down-arrow icon near the top of the transaction register). Select Export as CSV. The file downloads to your computer.

Repeat for each budget

If you have multiple budgets in YNAB, repeat the export for each one. Each budget exports as a separate CSV file.

Expected File Format

Forbidden Finance recognizes the YNAB export by its header row:

Date,Payee,Category Group/Category,Memo,Outflow,Inflow

Column	Mapped To	Notes
Date	Transaction date	Typically MM/DD/YYYY
Payee	Merchant name	Used for auto-categorization
Category Group/Category	Category	Matched against Forbidden Finance categories by name
Memo	Description	Preserved as a note on the transaction
Outflow	Expense amount	Converted to a negative amount
Inflow	Income amount	Converted to a positive amount

The separate Outflow and Inflow columns are handled automatically. Forbidden Finance negates the Outflow value to record it as an expense and keeps the Inflow value as income.

How to Import into Forbidden Finance

Open the import screen

Go to Transactions > Import in Forbidden Finance.

Select your YNAB export file

Choose the CSV file you exported from YNAB. Forbidden Finance detects the YNAB format automatically and displays a confirmation message.

Choose the target account

Select the account these transactions should import into. If you exported "All Accounts" from YNAB, you may want to split the file by account first or import to a general account and re-sort later.

Review the preview

Check that dates, amounts, merchants, and categories look correct. YNAB categories are matched to Forbidden Finance categories by name. Any unmatched categories are imported as uncategorized.

Confirm the import

Tap Import and watch the progress bar. The summary shows how many transactions were imported, skipped (duplicates), or had issues.

Common Issues

My YNAB categories did not match

YNAB uses a Category Group/Category format (like "Food:Groceries"). Forbidden Finance attempts to match the subcategory name to its own category list. If names differ significantly, those transactions are imported without a category. You can assign categories afterward using the uncategorized filter.

I exported All Accounts but want transactions in separate accounts

YNAB's All Accounts export includes an "Account" column, but Forbidden Finance imports all rows to a single target account. For a cleaner import, export each YNAB account separately and import each file to its corresponding account in Forbidden Finance.

Transfer transactions appear as regular expenses

YNAB marks transfers with a "Transfer:" prefix in the Payee column. Forbidden Finance imports these as regular transactions. After importing, you can link matching pairs as transfers using the transfer linking feature.

Some dates look wrong

YNAB typically uses MM/DD/YYYY format. If your dates appear off, Forbidden Finance may have detected the wrong format. You are prompted to confirm the date format when there is ambiguity.

Tips

Import your YNAB data before connecting your bank in Forbidden Finance. This way, when bank sync starts pulling in transactions, the deduplication system prevents double entries for any overlapping dates.

YNAB splits (transactions divided across multiple categories within YNAB) are exported as separate rows in the CSV. They import as individual transactions in Forbidden Finance rather than as a single split transaction. You may want to re-split them after import.

CSV and JSON Import Overview

General import guide and troubleshooting.

Import from Mint

Migrating from Mint instead?

Import from Monarch

Migrating from Monarch instead?

Import Generic CSV

For custom or bank-exported CSV and JSON files.

Need more help? Contact us at support@403fin.io.

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