Simplifi lets you import duplicates but not reimport after deleting?

Etch44

I imported thousands of records into several accounts that were all from the same bank. After investigating, I found the duplicates were limited to 2019 and 2020 (Data was a mix of current download and imported going back to 2017). Since I had already adjusted MANY transactions, and cleaning up the entire import file plus re-checking everything I'd already fixed prior to the import was a much bigger task, I figured out how to mass delete just those 2 years from each of the affected accounts. Then I imported clean data for that time period into each of the accounts.

This is where it gets crazy. Simplifi somehow recognizes those records are duplicates of the ones I deleted and refuses to import them (even though it finishes with a success message that includes the record count that I was trying to import). How does it do this but it couldn't prevent the duplicates from importing in the first place?!

UrsulaA

I will import the missing transactions to a separate manual account. Simplifi will not import the same transactions twice to a given account. Did this import come from Mint?

Regarding "How does it do this but it couldn't prevent the duplicates from importing in the first place?!" - This has happened before and noted by other users here. Simplifi prioritizes bank transactions over imports.

Mint import support https://help.simplifimoney.com/en/articles/8545901-how-to-import-transactions-from-mint

UrsulaA

Here is a post from another user experiencing the same behavior (deleted transactions from the bank being de-duplicated in import)

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/24121#Comment_24121

Etch44

Thanks for the information. I know exactly what happened but don't like the fact that the only real solution is to delete the accounts and start over. Unfortunately, I received a lot of misinformation from Simplifi support over the past couple weeks. The first person told me that each account had to be in a separate file, which I've learned isn't true. Maybe if I hadn't spent so much time separating out my Mint exports manually using a text editor in preparation for the import, I would have realized my files had duplicates. Then the next person I spoke to after the issue arose told me I could delete the transactions and re-import, which is why I went that route. The 3rd person I spoke to after the re-import didn't work said it's because each transaction has a unique identifier provided by Mint. I told him I was looking at the CSV file and there was no column for a unique identifier and he told me "it's hidden in the file." I asked him if he knew what a CSV file was to which he quickly retorted "Do YOU?" Since he clearly did not and was rude about it, I hung up and spoke to someone else who confirmed that the only real solution, as mentioned above, is to delete the account and re-import.

I did finally delete one of the accounts and confirm that I could then re-import clean data and re-link it to the bank, but I decided it would be too much work and I don't need bank transactions from that far back (and if I do, I still have the Mint export files), so I gave up.

UrsulaA

I imported from Mint only until the day before the initial synch started. For credit cards, the initial synch gave me 90 days or so. For brokerage I got about a year worth of transactions and for the checking account I got 2 years. I cleaned the synched transactions to match what Mint had regarding notes, splits, and categories in Simplifi.

It took time, about 10 hours, for me to get the import done. I imported before the upgraded process released last week.

Too bad the bank transactions even if deleted take priority over imported transactions with the new flow.

To solve this, I will import the Mint transactions into a separate manual account not synched. Then, delete the unnecessary synched transactions from the linked bank account.

Lee B

@Etch44 @UrsulaA Yes, not re-importing deleted transactions is a problem. It caused me to start all over again by deleting all my accounts and then re-importing from Mint, one bank/credit card account at a time. Many categories did not come across or come across correctly. BUT, I must say, that the ability to change multiple accounts was VERY helpful. For example, I could identify transactions by payee that were a specific category (like Verizon, Dish, Optimum, Energy, Water and Waste), check (select) them all and make them category = 'Utilities', all at once for all my transactions in Simplifi. I was able to re-categorize 90% of my Simplifi transactions from Mint in less than an hour.