# Questions? We have answers.

## Summary

Learn about the data requirements that a general ledger file must fulfill in order to be imported efficiently into MindBridge.

## Overall requirements

- The first row contains the names of the columns
- The remaining rows contain only entries (i.e., no totals, subtotals, or subheaders)
- There is one entry per row (i.e., no empty rows, no grouped entries)

## Requirements per row/entry

Each row must contain valid values for all [required fields](https://support.mindbridge.ai/hc/en-us/articles/1500013042661).

1. **Account ID** - Account number  
2. **Effective Date** - The posting date for the entry, in a supported format (preferably YYYY-MM-DD; a few other formats such as MM/DD/YYYY are supported). If date format is ambiguous, you will have the option to specify the format during the account mapping stage of ingestion.
3. **Amount**, or **Debit _and_ Credit**.  
   - If Amount is used, all debits must be _positive_ and credits _negative_.  
   - If Debit and Credit columns are used, the values in both columns must have _default positive balance_.  
   - The amounts must also satisfy the following:
     - The only characters allowed are numbers, periods ( . ) and negative symbols ( - ); all other characters must be removed (e.g., currency symbols, spaces, letters, and commas).  
       - Use a period (.) to indicate decimal points (i.e., not commas, as is the convention in some areas)  
       - Use a "-" (minus/negative) sign before the value to indicate a negative number (other conventions such as (), <>, or - after the number, are not supported)
4. **Transaction ID** - Although MindBridge can sometimes suggest a Transaction ID, it is recommended to include a Transaction ID column that identifies groups of entries. If no Transaction ID column is provided, it is necessary to have one or a combination of multiple columns serve as a transaction ID. Please see the article series below for more information on what a transaction ID is and how to identify a better one for your data:  
   - [Understanding Transaction ID and data integrity](https://support.mindbridge.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360056395634)  
   - [Troubleshooting Transaction ID selection](https://support.mindbridge.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360056395654)  
   - [Troubleshooting Tools: Smart Splitter and Custom Running Total](https://support.mindbridge.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360058269873)

## Column requirements

1. Each column must contain **only one field**.
   - e.g., Account ID in one column, Account Description in another, not both in one column  
   - each field must be in one and only one column — if Account ID is in column A for row 1, it must be in column A for all rows; cannot have some rows with Account ID in column B

Each column must be **well-defined** (delimited by a given character such as tab, comma, pipe (|), or in an Excel column; fixed width text is not supported, but our [data formatting team](https://support.mindbridge.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360056395554) can format well-formed fixed width text).