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Before migrating
Download a Backup everything ZIP from Cashflow Pilot, especially if it already contains financial data. Keep an unmodified copy of your YNAB export. Use Personal → Settings → Migrate from another app, not the normal monthly bank-statement uploader.
1. Choose the supported YNAB source
Cashflow Pilot accepts supported YNAB Register and Budget CSV/TSV files, and compatible advanced YNAB API JSON exports. CSV/TSV can preserve accounts, payees, amounts, dates, notes, categories and non-negative monthly assigned amounts where present; JSON can carry more explicit transfer and split information.
2. Preview account mapping
Choose whether each source account becomes a new Cashflow account or maps to an existing same-currency account. Check the source currency carefully. Confirm the number of transactions, sample dates and warnings before committing the import.
3. Expect some differences
YNAB targets, scheduled transactions, source-status details and full credit-card payment envelope history are not automatically rebuilt. CSV cannot reconstruct all split and transfer relationships. Negative historical assignments require the separately configured signed-history Zero-Based (Beta) workflow and do not become ordinary Flexible targets.
4. Review balances and imports
After migration, compare each account with its original statement and confirm imported transactions. Imported account balances are not silently adjusted to manufacture a match. The import's transaction undo option does not automatically remove newly created accounts or all historical category allocations.
Next steps
Start with Personal setup, choose your budgeting method, then compare statement totals using this worked example.
Want the bigger picture? Explore the Personal, Portfolio and Business product tour →