CAMT.053 Import Switzerland: Automate Your Bank Statements

What Is a CAMT File?

A CAMT file is an XML file in the international ISO 20022 standard that your bank uses to deliver account information electronically. CAMT stands for "Cash Management". The most important variants are camt.052 (intraday account movements), camt.053 (end-of-day statement) and camt.054 (debit/credit notification with QR references). Swiss banks make these files available for download in their e-banking.

The practical benefit: instead of typing every incoming payment and every debit by hand, you upload the CAMT file to your bookkeeping software. The software automatically reads the date, amount, currency, reference number and counterparty - and can match payments directly against open invoices.

In Switzerland, CAMT is the standard for electronic account statements. The concrete implementation is governed by the Swiss Payment Standards from SIX - the same organization that defines the QR-bill. Since the QR-bill fully replaced the old payment slips in October 2022, the QR reference (QRR) of each payment travels through the banking system and reappears in your CAMT file. That is exactly what makes automatic matching of incoming payments to invoices possible.

CAMT.052 vs. CAMT.053 vs. CAMT.054: What Is the Difference?

In short: camt.052 shows provisional account movements during the day, camt.053 is the official end-of-day statement, and camt.054 delivers detailed notifications for individual credits and debits, including QR references. For bookkeeping you normally need camt.053 - for automatic invoice matching, camt.054 is the best addition.

Important: camt.052 is a snapshot, not a final statement - it is unsuitable for bookkeeping. If your e-banking offers several formats, take camt.053 as your base. If you issue many QR-bills, camt.054 is worth adding because it contains the reference numbers of the individual payments.

Where Do I Download the CAMT.053 File?

You will find the camt.053 file in your e-banking, typically under "Payments" or "Account" > "Documents" or "Export" > "ISO 20022" or "camt.053". At UBS, Raiffeisen, ZKB and PostFinance the menu items are labeled slightly differently, but the path is similar everywhere: select the account, choose the format, set the date range, download the XML.

The typical steps:

1. Log in to your e-banking
2. Navigate to "Payments", "Account" or "Documents"
3. Find the export or account statement function and select the format "ISO 20022" or "camt.053" (XML)
4. Set the desired date range, for example the last month
5. Download the file - it has the extension .xml

Two practical notes: some banks only make the CAMT file available the following business day, so today's transactions may still be missing. And at some banks you have to activate or order the electronic delivery of ISO 20022 statements once - a quick look at the settings or a message to support is enough.

How Do I Import a CAMT File Into My Bookkeeping?

The import takes three steps: download the CAMT file from your e-banking, upload it to your bookkeeping software, then review and match the recognized transactions. In LumaBill, this takes about a minute per statement. Here is how it works step by step:

1. Open Bookkeeping > Banking > CAMT Import
2. Upload the XML file or drag and drop it into the upload area
3. LumaBill parses the file and shows a preview of all recognized transactions
4. On your first import, assign the matching bank account from your chart of accounts (e.g. "1020 Bank") - the mapping is saved for future imports
5. Review the imported transactions and match them against open invoices and expenses

For each transaction, LumaBill automatically extracts:

• Booking date and value date
• Amount and currency (CHF, EUR, etc.)
• Reference number (QR reference or ISR number)
• Sender or recipient (name and IBAN)
• Booking text (bank message)

After the import, every transaction has a status: New (not yet reconciled), Matched (assigned to an invoice or expense) or Ignored (manually marked as irrelevant).

With Pro + AI, matching gets even faster: the AI compares the amount, reference and counterparty of each transaction with your open invoices and expenses and suggests the right match - you just confirm with one click.

You will find the detailed guide with screenshots in the CAMT import documentation. And if you are wondering whether you even need double-entry bookkeeping as a sole proprietor: the CAMT import works just the same in simple bookkeeping - more on that in our guide to Milchbüechli bookkeeping.

Common Problems With the CAMT Import

The three most common stumbling blocks are the wrong format (camt.052 instead of camt.053), batch bookings without detail information, and duplicates when re-importing. All three are easy to avoid - here is how:

Wrong format: camt.052 instead of camt.053

LumaBill supports camt.053 and camt.054 as XML files. A camt.052 file is not accepted because it only contains provisional intraday movements. Explicitly select camt.053 (or camt.054) in your e-banking. CSV and PDF exports do not work either, and the file must not exceed 10 MB.

Batch bookings without details

If your bank groups several incoming payments into one batch booking, the camt.053 only shows the total amount - the individual payments and their QR references are missing. The breakdown is delivered by the camt.054 notification. In that case, additionally download and import the camt.054 file so that invoice matching works per payment.

Duplicates when re-importing

If you accidentally import the same file twice, or the date ranges of two statements overlap, LumaBill detects duplicate transactions automatically: you are warned, and entries that already exist are skipped. No double bookings are created - you can choose date ranges generously without worrying about duplicates.

What Does the CAMT Import Cost?

With LumaBill, the CAMT import is included in the Pro plan for CHF 19 per month - no surcharge. AI-assisted matching of bank transactions against open invoices and expenses is part of Pro + AI for CHF 29 per month. You can try both plans free for 14 days.

You will find all the details and a comparison of all features on the pricing page.

Conclusion: Import Your Bank Statement Instead of Typing It

The CAMT import is the fastest way to get your bank transactions into your bookkeeping:

• camt.053 is your bank's end-of-day statement in ISO 20022 format - every Swiss bank provides it in e-banking
• camt.054 adds the QR references of individual payments and enables automatic invoice matching
• The import takes one minute instead of an hour of typing - including duplicate detection
• With AI matching, you confirm assignments with a single click

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