Koala Docs

Appearance

iCost Bill Import Guide ​

📋 Overview ​

This guide shows how to export bills from iCost and import them into Expense Tracker: Koala (“Koala”).

Expense Tracker: Koala (“Koala”) supports iCost Excel export (.xlsx or .xls). CSV exported from iCost is not supported.

📱 Part 1: Export in iCost ​

Menu names may differ across versions:

  1. Open iCost
  2. Go to Settings / More
  3. Find Export / Data export / Export bills
  4. Choose Excel (.xlsx / .xls)
  5. Choose a date range (recommended up to 3 months)
  6. Export and save the file

⚠️ Important: If you export as CSV, Koala will show a message that CSV is not supported.

📱 Part 2: Import into Expense Tracker: Koala ​

Step 1: Open the import page ​

  1. Open Expense Tracker: Koala
  2. Tap Settings
  3. Find Bill Import
  4. Enter the bill import page

Step 2: Choose the import source ​

  1. Tap Import source
  2. Select iCost

⚠️ Important: You must choose iCost, otherwise Koala may parse it as another source and fail to find the header or shift fields.

Step 3: Pick the file ​

  1. Tap File path
  2. Select the Excel file exported from iCost (.xlsx / .xls)
  3. Confirm the file name is shown
  1. Tap Linked ledger
  2. Choose the target ledger

Step 5: Parse and preview ​

  1. Tap Parse (top-right)
  2. After parsing succeeds, Koala opens the preview page
  3. You can edit category, account, time, amount, tags, and notes before importing

Step 6: Import ​

  1. Tap Import after confirming everything looks correct
  2. Wait for import to finish

📋 iCost Excel format (how Koala reads it) ​

Koala checks:

  • The Excel file has a readable worksheet
  • The header row contains "日期" (used to locate the header)

Tip: If iCost lets you choose export language, export with Chinese headers (at least keep "日期").

Columns (by position) ​

#FieldNotes
1DateDate strings (multiple formats) or Excel serial date
2TypeMust contain the keyword for expense or income
3Amount+ or - allowed; thousands separators are handled
4Parent categoryUsed to match Koala categories
5Child categoryIf empty, Koala uses parent category
6AccountIf empty, Koala uses a default account
8NoteText
9Currency codeFor example CNY or USD (fallback to ledger default)
10TagsComma-separated (, or ，)

Field mapping (how Koala imports) ​

  • Date (row[0]) → bill date
  • Type (row[1], contains expense/income keyword) → bill type
  • Amount (row[2]) → amount
  • Parent category (row[3]) → parent category (matched/created)
  • Child category (row[4]; if empty, use parent) → child category (matched/created)
  • Account (row[5]; if empty, default account) → account
  • Column 7 (row[6]) → ignored
  • Note (row[7]) → note
  • Currency code (row[8]) → currency (matched by code; fallback to ledger currency)
  • Tags (row[9]) → tags (matched/created and linked)

⚠️ Notes ​

  1. Excel only: iCost CSV files cannot be imported.
  2. No automatic deduplication: Importing the same file twice will create duplicate bills. Avoid importing the same time range repeatedly.
  3. Header language: Parsing relies on finding a header row that contains “日期”. If you export with non-Chinese headers, Koala may fail to locate the header.
  4. Empty account handling: If the account column is empty, Koala uses a default account as a fallback. Consider filling in accounts in iCost, or batch-edit accounts in the preview page.
  5. Category matching: Koala matches by “parent + child” names. If matching fails, the preview page will show it as incomplete; select the correct category before importing.

🔧 FAQ ​

Q1: “iCost header not found”. ​

Common reasons:

  1. The header row does not contain “日期” (for example, exported with English headers)
  2. The file is not an iCost export, or it was edited and the structure changed
  3. The Excel file is empty or has no worksheet

Re-export from iCost and prefer Chinese headers.

Q2: Many records went into the same account. ​

This is expected if the “Account” column is empty. Koala uses a default account as a fallback. Batch-edit accounts in the preview page, or export again after filling accounts in iCost.

Q3: Categories don’t match. ​

On the preview page, tap a record and select the correct category manually; or create categories in Koala with the same names as in the iCost export, then parse again.

Last updated: Apr 2026