Steve Root's Xero to Metro CSV converter

Know what you are doing? Select the Xero CSV file you need to convert

New here?

If you have exported a batch payment file for a bank from Xero and discovered it doesn't work, this page is for you.

Xero advertise the feature of exporting batch payments to CSV and I guess they do provide that feature, just not in a way that actually achieves the aim. I long ago reported a bug that the batch export CSV format didn't match the bank's requirements. I was told that no one else needed this so it wouldn't be fixed. That was for our Santander account. Now our bank has moved to Metro and the Xero CSV export outputs data in the wrong columns which is not a quick thing to fix by hand every time.

However, I know that I can use javascript, present on every web browser to reorder the Xero CSV into a Metro compatible CSV so I've written this code and I'm sharing it for everyone.

Why won't Xero just fix their CSV export? I suspect they'd rather us use their 20p per payment service.

If you want use this for your own banking files

This page uses javascript, part of your web browser, to read your CSV and return to you a new CSV in the right format. All of the processing is done in YOUR web browser. There are no servers, no sending your data to me, just your computer processing your file

I STRONGLY suggest you save this file to your computer, read and check what the code is doing, and use it from a place you control.

Whilst you can use it from my web server (you're reading this page after all), you have no guarantee I won't change the code in the future. I could add an extra line in the payment file to pay my favourite charity a couple of pounds. Or worse, someone else could change the page if my web server got hacked and neither you nor I would know until it was too late.

Save this web page (ctrl+s is the shortcut for most browsers)
Choose the location to save it to, eg your Desktop, and give it a suitable name like XeroToMetro.html
READ THE FILE!

opening it in your web browser (double click it)
right click the page, view source (or ctrl+u is the shortcut)

Change the name to XeroToMetro.txt and double click it to open in your text editor (probably notepad). Once you've read it change it back to XeroToMetro.html so it opens automatically in a web browser

The javacript begins at the section starting 'SCRIPT'
read the comments and explanations begining // on a line and see if you can follow along with what's happening. Beware of any web addresses or url that could have been added by bad people.
You could try asking an AI LLM like chapgpt or Gemini what the script is doing
You could try asking a friend who can code

Bug reports?

Send me a message via my blog here: https://www.steveroot.co.uk

You can also check for updated versions of the script here. https://sroot.eu/xero-csv-converter/

If you modify or improve this script for another file format please let me know too, so I can share that too

Licence

You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.