An import created duplicates
What you’d see
The same purchase appears twice in an account — usually once from something you entered by hand (or that Lucius logged from an email) and once from a statement you imported.
Why it happens
Every import compares each statement row with what’s already in your ledger — amount, date, description and account — and suggests Link (it’s one you already have), Import (it’s new) or Leave out. Duplicates get through when:
- The two copies differ too much to match — a different amount (a tip added later, a currency conversion, a pending charge that settled for a different amount) or a date several days apart.
- One purchase is split differently — your bank shows one charge as two lines, or two charges as one, so neither side matches your single entry.
- A row marked Import should have been Link during review.
Prevent it: check the review before you confirm
When you import a statement, nothing is booked until you confirm:
- Click the Needs you filter first — those are rows the app wasn’t sure about, often a possible match with a different amount or date.
- For a row you already have, choose Link (or Same one — link). Nothing new is booked; your existing transaction is linked to the statement and marked cleared.
- If it linked to the wrong transaction, expand the row and use Match with a different ledger entry.
- Check the Not on statement filter: it lists transactions in your ledger for that period that the statement doesn’t have — often a hand-entered duplicate. You can mark them for deletion there; they’re deleted only when you confirm.
See Importing statements and receipts.
Fix it: remove a duplicate that’s already booked
- Open the account in Accounts and find the two copies.
- Decide which to keep — usually the one linked to the statement (it’s marked cleared).
- Tick the extra one and click Delete in the bar that appears (or press Delete).
If the copies each hold something you want — a category on one, a receipt on the other — ask Lucius to merge them instead: “Merge these two Starbucks transactions on 3 March in Checking.” He shows what the merged transaction will look like and waits for your approval.
Fix it: undo a whole import
If an import went badly, you don’t have to delete rows one by one. Ask Lucius:
Roll back the statement import I did today for Checking.
He finds that import and shows you the transactions it will remove before anything happens. Deleting a statement from the account’s Statements list does not remove the transactions it imported — only the rollback does.
Make matching more or less eager
Settings → Duplicate Detection → Auto-merge policy decides how much the app merges on its own:
| Policy | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Conservative — ask on ambiguity | Asks you about anything uncertain. Fewest wrong merges. |
| Balanced — auto-merge transfers (default) | Joins the two sides of a transfer automatically; asks about the rest. |
| Aggressive — merge likely dupes | Merges likely duplicates without asking. |
The same screen lists Remembered decisions — pairs you’ve already said are, or aren’t, the same — so you aren’t asked twice.
The Starting Balance can’t be merged or deleted
An account’s Starting Balance transaction is protected. Trying to merge or delete it gives
the Starting Balance transaction can't be merged — change the account's opening balance instead. If a duplicate involves it, delete the other copy. If the starting amount itself is
wrong, open the Starting Balance row in the register and correct its amount or date. See Accounts and opening balances.
How to confirm it’s fixed
The transaction appears once in the register, and the account balance matches your bank.