Getting Starling transactions into your books
Two routes, and it is worth knowing which you need. Upload a CSV statement and Taxmo recognises the Starling layout without you mapping a single column, or connect the account through Open Banking for the current period. Either way the transactions land in the same review queue, and the same records go on to produce the VAT return that Taxmo files to HMRC.
The Starling layout, recognised on sight
Taxmo detects a Starling statement from its own column names rather than asking you to map fields. For Starling that means the Reference column, falling back to Counter Party, and a single signed amount column labelled with the currency, Amount (GBP), with day-first dates. If your export has extra columns, they are ignored rather than getting in the way.
What actually goes wrong with a Starling export
None of these are reasons not to import. They are the things worth knowing before you assume a number is right.
- The amount column is currency-qualified rather than plainly named Amount, which is why a generic importer sometimes fails on a Starling export and Taxmo does not
- Counter Party is often the more useful field for categorisation than Reference, because a supplier's name is more stable than whatever text ended up on the payment
- Transfers into a Space are movements of your own money, not expenses, and belong excluded at review
Open Banking, and its one real limit
You can connect the account instead of exporting a file. The connection is read-only account information, authorised by you at Starling's own sign-in rather than by giving Taxmo any credentials. The limit to know about: it is an on-demand import rather than a background sync, so you re-authorise each time you pull transactions and each pull returns a recent window instead of your whole history. For older periods, the CSV route has no such window.
Then the records do the rest
Transactions arrive pending and are not in your figures until you approve them, with categorisation rules you set once applied on the way in. Once approved they feed your running tax estimate, your profit and loss, and the nine boxes of your VAT return, which Taxmo submits to HMRC directly over the Making Tax Digital API. Importing Starling activity is the first step in that chain rather than an end in itself.
Business and personal in one account
Plenty of sole traders run business and personal spending through the same account, and there is nothing wrong with it as long as the books separate the two. Personal spending is not an allowable cost and must not reach your expense figures. Import everything so nothing is missed, then exclude the personal rows at review, which is faster and safer than trying to filter the export by hand.
Common questions
Can I import Starling transactions into Taxmo?
Yes, two ways. Export a CSV statement and upload it, and the Starling layout is detected automatically with no column mapping. Or connect the account through Open Banking, which is read-only and authorised at Starling rather than by handing over credentials. CSV is the route for older periods, because the connection returns a recent window rather than your full history.
Does the Starling connection sync automatically?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. The UK Open Banking connection is on-demand: you re-authorise at your bank for each import. You never get a feed that quietly stopped working when a consent lapsed, but you do trigger the import yourself.
I use a Starling Space to save for my tax bill. Does that show as an expense?
It appears as a transaction because money left the main balance, but it is not an expense: it is still your money. Exclude those rows at review. Taxmo's own tax estimate is what tells you whether the amount you are setting aside is close to the right one.
Do I have to categorise every Starling transaction by hand?
Only the first time. Rules you set are applied to incoming transactions, so a supplier you have categorised once is categorised on every future import. What reaches you for review is the ambiguous remainder rather than the whole statement.
Can I file my VAT return from imported Starling transactions?
Yes, once they are approved. Approved transactions feed the nine boxes, and Taxmo submits the return to HMRC directly over the Making Tax Digital API with HMRC's receipt stored against the period. Transactions still sitting unapproved are excluded from your figures, which is why the pre-filing checklist blocks on them.
Do I still need to keep receipts?
Yes. A bank line proves money moved, not what it bought or how much VAT it carried, and for a VAT reclaim the VAT invoice is the evidence rather than the bank row. Import the statement so nothing is missed, keep the receipts so the figures are defensible.
Last updated 2026-08-10. Thresholds, rates and allowances are indexed or reset at fiscal events and are deliberately not quoted here; check GOV.UK for current amounts.
Starling is a trademark of Starling Bank Limited. Taxmo is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Starling Bank Limited. This page describes what Taxmo does with a statement you export or an Open Banking connection you authorise yourself.