If you’ve been asked to send expense or payment data to your accounting team — but you’re not sure what they need or how it works — don’t worry! This article will help you ask the right questions and set things up smoothly.
Prepare for your CSV export
Start here: What does your accounting team need?
You already know what your accounting team needs? Skip this section and jump straight to the setup.
Before you create a CSV export from Moss, it’s important to know how your accounting team wants to process the data. A quick internal check can save time and prevent errors later.
Here are the key questions to ask your accountant:
Do they want payment data, supplier data — or both?
Some teams only need payment records (e.g. what was paid, when, and by whom).
Others want to book expenses against suppliers, which requires more detailed supplier information.
If using credit cards, will your accountant want to:
Record the purchase (as a supplier invoice)?
Or only the payment (as a credit card transaction)?
Or both, as two separate steps?
Are there special requirements for tracking taxes, cost centers, or projects?
If yes, make sure to clarify which data points are needed in the CSV.
Next: What Can Your Accounting System Import?
Ask your accountant or technical team these questions:
Does your accounting system have a CSV import feature?
If yes, does it require a specific template or format? If it does, try using that import CSV as your template.
Do any of Moss’s built-in export formats match this template?
Moss offers preset formats that may work out-of-the-box for tools like DATEV, Xero, or generic ledger imports.
If you're not sure, check if your team can send a sample file from their system and compare it to the preset templates you see in Moss.
Can your accounting system create a custom import based on Moss’s format
Some systems allow you to map columns from a custom file to their fields.
If that’s possible, Moss can provide a consistent export format for your team to work with.
If there’s no import option at all:
What structure, layout, or data is needed to manually enter the data from a spreadsheet? In this case we recommend you create a template called “generic CSV” in Moss. This includes almost all CSV fields available, and once you have exported your first set of data, you can simply remove any that doesn’t suit you.
Tip: You can send a sample Moss export to your accountant and ask:
“Can you import this format? If not, what do we need to change?”
Once you know the requirements…
Only after you’ve confirmed what your accountant or system needs, you’re ready to:
Choose a matching Moss export template, or
Build a custom export using Moss’s CSV tools, and
Include only the data your accounting team wants (not more, not less)
You’ll save time, reduce errors, and avoid back-and-forth emails — just by aligning early.
Need help mapping it out?
If you’re unsure how to interpret your accountant’s response, or you want to know if Moss supports a certain format, just reach out to our support team. We’re happy to:
Suggest the best export option
Check template compatibility
Help you structure the file based on your accounting system’s needs
Build your CSV template in Moss
You have two options to build your CSV export template
General overview of the CSV Builder Tool in Moss
Now that you've clarified what your accounting system needs (if you haven’t yet, check out this guide first), you’re ready to build the export in Moss using the export formats builder.
This tool lets you choose what data to include in your file, customize the format, and save it for repeated use. You don’t need to be an expert — we’ve designed it to be easy and flexible.
🎯 What Is the "Export Formats Builder"?
This CSV Builder is a feature in Moss that lets you:
Select exactly which data fields to export (like date, vendor, category, amount, tax, etc.)
Choose the column order and field names
Match your export to your accounting system’s requirements (with very few exceptions)
Save templates you can reuse every month
Tip: If you have multiple entities, and need to build the same export template for every entity, you can simply import a template you have already created in Moss. You can find this under Settings/Accounting - Tab “Export Formats”. Click create export format and select “Import from other entity” in this case.
Step-by-Step: How to build your CSV using a preset template
You can watch a video that shows you how to use a present template Loom Using a preset template.
If you do not want to watch the video, you can follow these steps:
Go to "Setting" and then to "Accounting"
2. Click “Export Formats” in the top right subheadings
3. Click on “Create export format”
4. Next you will select if you would like to create a format from scratch, or - if you already have an existing template for another entity within Moss with a template you want to use.
⚠️ Note: CSV templates are linked to the type of export they were created for. That means a template built for card transactions can’t be reused for invoices, and vice versa — even if the format looks similar. Each export module pulls from a different dataset, so templates aren’t interchangeable across modules.
5. You are now on the main page to set the general formatting of the CSV. Here you are asked to
Give your template a clear name (e.g. “Monthly DATEV Export” or “UK Entity — Credit Card Transactions”).
Choose the transaction type you want to export:
Card payments
Reimbursements
Invoices
Prepaid Expenses
Balance Movements
6. Now you check the mapping and coding per each field. We have built these templates using the most common configurations and data points. You might need to change these (if the template allows) to suit your needs.
Note: If you do not have the option to view or amend any fields in this step (i.e. Diamant), this means the accounting software does not allow any deviation from the template.
7. Once you have checked or amended as needed, don’t forget to save your template. The button is at the bottom of the mapping page.
8. You can always come back to make changes, by clicking on the three dots on the right of your template.
Try out your template
Now all you need are some :
Transactions ready to export
An import method for your accounting software
Export and import into your accounting software to check it’s working as expected
If something seems off, you can easily go back and edit your template using the three dots on the right of your template.
Step-by-Step: How to build your CSV without a preset template from Moss
Watch this video or follow the steps below.
1. Go to "Settings" and then to "Accounting".
2. Click “Export Formats” in the top right subheadings
3. Click on “Create export format”
4. Next you will select if you would like to create a format from scratch, or - if you already have an existing template for another entity within Moss with a template you want to use.
⚠️ Note: CSV templates are linked to the type of export they were created for. That means a template built for card transactions can’t be reused for invoices, and vice versa — even if the format looks similar. Each export module pulls from a different dataset, so templates aren’t interchangeable across modules.
5. You are now on the main page to set the general formatting of the CSV. Here you are asked to
Give your template a clear name (e.g. “Monthly DATEV Export” or “UK Entity — Credit Card Transactions”).
Choose the transaction type you want to export:
Card payments
Reimbursements
Invoices
Prepaid Expenses
Balance Movements
6. You can now define key formatting like date and amount format, column and decimal separator, file format (UTF-8 or Windows-1252), and if your file should have a header column, or subheadings.
7. If you need to include an expense and corresponding payment per transaction, we recommend you select the option “Create entry header and entry line for each payment”
8. Once you have defined your file format, click continue.
9. Now you create your template by clicking “Add column”, giving it a name and finding the appropriate data to map.
10. In many cases we have different versions to select. This is where knowing what you need beforehand is important. Select the version you want and click. We now show a demo value in column VALUE to show you how it will look.
11. Add the next column and create your mapping as needed and make sure to press “Save format” when you are finished.
12. You can always come back to make changes, by clicking on the three dots on the right of your template.
🧪 Try out your template
Now all you need are some :
Transactions ready to export
An import method for your accounting software
Export and import into your accounting software to check it’s working as expected
If something seems off, you can easily go back and edit your template using the three dots on the right of your template.