In short: choose the workflow, not the tool
For most small businesses in Latvia and Estonia, a bank connection (the automatic, ongoing transfer of account data into your accounting software) is the better daily setup, since it keeps balances and transactions current without manual work. CSV import, a one-off account statement file you upload by hand, still makes sense when transaction volume is low, you bank with just one or two institutions, and you want tight control. A bank connection grants only read access to your account, under Article 67 of the EU’s Payment Services Directive (PSD2), and it never replaces an invoice, receipt, or statement as proof of a transaction. Latvia’s Accounting Law (Grāmatvedības likums) lets a confirmed bank statement count as a supporting document only when a person the company has made responsible has verified it under a procedure the company itself set up. The choice in August 2026 isn’t “automatic versus manual.” It’s a workflow that keeps cash flow visible, keeps your paper trail intact, and keeps account-data access under your own control.
The difference between the two approaches isn’t just convenience. It’s also a question of accountability: who sees your account data, for how long, and on what basis. That’s worth settling before you click “approve” on any bank connection request.
What a bank connection actually does, and what CSV import does
Bank connection and the Account Information Service (AIS)
A “bank connection” usually means an Account Information Service, or AIS: a third party’s right to read your account’s transactions and balance directly from the bank, under Article 67 of PSD2. It’s a read right, not an action right. The provider sees what landed in your account and what left it, but it can’t move money on its own. Initiating payments is covered by a separate part of the directive, the Payment Initiation Service, or PIS. These are two different licences and two different services, even though both get lumped together under “bank connection.” If your accounting software only reads and matches transactions, you’re looking at AIS. If it can also trigger payments, that’s a separately licensed service.
CSV import as a snapshot in time
A CSV file (Comma-Separated Values, a plain-text table your bank generates from an account statement) works on entirely different logic. It’s a snapshot. You download one period’s transactions, import them into your software, and the file doesn’t refresh itself. When tomorrow’s payment order comes in, you have to download a new file and import it again. A connection, by contrast, pulls data continuously, often daily, sometimes several times a day.
Five decision criteria for a small business
The decision comes down to five questions, not one.
- How current does your balance need to be? If clients pay upfront and you need to see the money land the same day, go with a bank connection. If you check cash flow once a week, CSV import loses you nothing.
- How many transactions a month? Fifteen transactions a month import from a CSV file in five minutes. Two hundred and fifty transactions a month means a constant risk of manual-import errors and hours of lost time. That’s where a connection pays off.
- How many banks and currencies? One Latvian bank in one currency makes CSV simple. Three banks in three countries, in different currencies, turns manual import into a chore and raises the risk of duplicate entries.
- How much risk of error can you tolerate? With manual import, the risk is uploading the same file twice or skipping a period. A connection cuts that risk, but adds a different one: matching-rule errors, covered below.
- What’s your backup plan? Even if you use a connection, you need CSV import as a fallback for when the bank’s service goes down or changes its API.
| Criterion | Bank connection | CSV import |
|---|---|---|
| Data freshness | Near real-time, updates automatically | Snapshot file, updated manually |
| Suitable transaction volume | Worth it when volume is high and constant | Works well when volume is low and infrequent |
| Multi-bank / multi-currency support | Strong, if the interface covers all your accounts | Works, but every bank needs its own file |
| Manual effort | Minimal, but matching rules need upkeep | Regular downloading and uploading |
| Third-party dependency | Depends on the provider’s licence and agreement | Depends only on your bank, not a middleman |
| Fallback if something breaks | Needs a CSV plan in your back pocket | Already is the fallback |
Is a bank line the same as a supporting document?
This is where both approaches, connection and CSV alike, create the most confusion. A bank transaction shows that money moved. It doesn’t show what for, at what VAT rate, or under which contract.
Latvia’s requirements for supporting documents
Under Latvia’s Accounting Law, an external document (an invoice, a receipt, a contract) takes priority as a supporting document over an internal one, and the document has to be able to justify the economic substance of the transaction; a bank payment line usually can’t do that on its own. An unconfirmed account statement can, as an exception, count as a supporting document, but only if a person the company’s manager has made responsible has separately confirmed the transaction and the accuracy of the data.
Estonia’s requirements for supporting documents
Estonia’s rule is even clearer: under the Estonian Accounting Act, every accounting entry has to rest on a source document proving the transaction, or on a consolidated document built from source documents. A bank statement is not a source document; an invoice or a receipt is. Since 1 July 2025, a source document generally has to be machine-readable; any other permanently reproducible written document is allowed only in the specific exceptions the law names. Both Latvian and Estonian law leave responsibility with the company’s manager even when an outsourced accountant, bookkeeper, or piece of software handles the records on their behalf. Latvia’s law says this outright.
In practice this comes down to one rule: every payment in and out has to be tied to its own invoice, receipt, or contract, number matched to number, amount matched to amount, regardless of whether the bank line reached your books via a connection or a CSV file. Retention periods differ between the two countries. Latvia requires accounting registers and organisational documents to be kept for 10 years, with other supporting documents kept for at least five; Estonia requires source documents, registers, ledgers, and contracts to be kept for seven years after the end of the relevant financial year.
How do you connect your bank without losing control?
Before you grant a third party access to your account, run through a checklist that keeps the decision in your hands.
- Limit the scope of consent. Article 67 of PSD2 requires the provider to ask for explicit consent, and it applies only to the accounts named and the transactions tied to them. Grant access only to the accounts you actually need for bookkeeping, not to every banking product your company holds.
- Check the provider’s licence status. Before using a service, check whether the provider is listed in the EBA’s register of payment institutions. It’s updated from member-state data at least once a day, but a listing alone doesn’t confer legal rights or serve as final proof of status; cross-check your own country’s supervisory register too.
- There doesn’t need to be a contract between your bank and the provider. PSD2 doesn’t require your account-holding bank and the account information provider to have an agreement between themselves. The authorisation comes from your consent, not from an arrangement between banks.
- Separate user roles. Give your accountant the right to view and match transactions, not to approve payments. Those two roles should stay distinct in your software as well.
- Keep CSV export within reach. Even with a live connection running, keep the ability to download an account statement as a CSV file by hand. That’s your fallback if the interface goes down.
- Review the access log regularly. Check who has accessed your account data and when, and revoke access the moment you stop using a provider.
The European Commission’s overview of the payment services rules frames the whole regulation around one goal: a safe, integrated payments market where the consumer or business, not the intermediary, decides who gets to see their data.
How do you run a hybrid model without duplicate entries?
In practice, most small businesses do best with a hybrid setup: a bank connection for daily tracking, CSV as a backup and control check. Here’s how to build it in four steps.
- Match your opening balance. Before switching on a connection, compare your accounting balance against the bank’s actual balance as of a specific date. Any gap that shows up afterward will be immediately visible.
- Build automatic matching rules. Set up rules that automatically match recurring payments (rent, leasing, invoices from the same client) to the right invoice, but design the rule to match amount and reference number, not amount alone.
- Review unmatched transactions weekly. Every week, go through the transactions your rules couldn’t match automatically. That’s where mismatches happen most often.
- Reconcile against the bank statement at month-end. At the end of each month, download the account statement in CSV format and check it against your accounting balance. This catches any gaps the connection missed that automation alone wouldn’t flag.
The order matters: if you build automatic rules before reconciling your opening balance, every entry afterward carries the old error forward.
Why are Latvia’s deadlines making correct matching more urgent?
Latvia’s accounting rules are moving toward structured e-invoicing, and that changes how fast a bank line and an invoice need to line up. Starting 1 January 2025, Latvian invoices issued to state or municipal bodies (government-to-government, business-to-government, and government-to-business transactions) must be issued as structured e-invoices, in a format that meets the LVS EN 16931-1:2017 standard and is machine-readable without manual reprocessing. Starting 1 January 2026, companies must also submit those e-invoices to Latvia’s tax authority, the Valsts ieņēmumu dienests, or VID. Starting 1 January 2028, the e-invoice and VID-submission requirement extends to business-to-business transactions as well. The deadline that was originally set for early 2026 was pushed back by a later amendment to the law.
This doesn’t make a bank connection mandatory. The regulation covers invoice format and submission to the tax authority, not how an accountant handles account data day to day. But once invoices move in structured form and land automatically at VID, it’s worth having your bank-side data flow at the same level of order: the more precisely today’s invoices and bank payments are tied together, the less work you’ll face in 2028, when scrutiny of B2B invoices tightens.
FAQ
Mida pangaühendus tegelikult teeb ja mida teeb CSV-import?
Pangaühendus on kontoinfo teenus (AIS), mis loeb konto tehinguid ja saldot otse pangast PSD2 direktiivi alusel. CSV-import on hetkeseisu koopia, kus laadite alla ühe perioodi tehingud ja impordite need käsitsi. Pangaühendus uuendab andmeid pidevalt, CSV-import vajab iga kord uut faili.
Kas pangakirje on sama, mis kuludokument?
Ei, pangatehing näitab ainult raha liikumist, mitte selle majanduslikku sisu. Läti ja Eesti seadused nõuavad tõendava dokumendina arvet, tšekki või lepingut. Pangaväljavõte ei ole algdokument, vaid seda saab erandkorras kasutada ainult juhi kinnituse korral.
Kuidas ühendada pank kontrolli kaotamata?
Piirake nõusoleku ulatust ainult vajalikele kontodele, kontrollige teenusepakkuja staatust EBA registris, eristage kasutajaõigused ja hoidke CSV-eksport varulahendusena. Regulaarselt kontrollige tegevuslogi ja tühistage juurdepääs kohe, kui teenust enam ei kasuta.