1. Your Upwork transaction history
The CSV from Upwork (Reports > Transaction history). Columns are matched by name (Date, Ref ID, Type, Description, Amount, Currency, Balance). Newest-first or oldest-first both work. Include the Balance column so the page can prove the rows are complete.
Choose a file or paste the text, then click Read, check and build journals.
Result
Balance check
| Account | Last row | Balance moved by | Journals clear | Agrees |
|---|
Journals
| Journal | Date | Account | Debit | Credit | Memo |
|---|
Download
The accounts must already exist in your software under these names or codes. Post the journals, then check the Upwork balance account against the balance Upwork shows.
The model, and what it leaves out
- Rows: each row is one entry in your Upwork balance with a date, a type, an amount (positive in, negative out) and the balance afterwards. Amounts are read to cents;
$1,234.56,1.234,56and(12.00)all work. - Categories: Hourly and Fixed Price/milestone payments and bonuses to their own income accounts, Service Fee and withdrawal fees to fees, Connects and Freelancer Plus to a subscriptions account, refunds to refunds, withdrawals to your bank account. A type no rule recognises goes to an uncategorised account and is listed.
- Balance check: the rows are put in time order and each balance must equal the previous balance plus the row's amount. A break names the rows either side and the missing amount, and the journals are marked not to post until it is fixed.
- Month split: rows are grouped by date. A journal is dated the month end, or the last transaction date for the final month. Each balances to the Upwork balance account, so it holds exactly that month's movement.
- Fee share: Upwork's fees divided by what you billed gross, and with Connects added, so you can see the all-in cost of the platform for the period.
- Not checked: that the export agrees with Upwork or your books, tax treatment anywhere, currency conversion between contract and payout, and that the accounts exist in your software.
Common questions
How do I turn Upwork earnings into a journal entry?
Download your transaction history from Upwork (Reports > Transaction history > Download CSV), paste it here and press Read, check and build journals. The page books hourly, fixed-price and bonus payments gross to their own income accounts, books Upwork's service fee, withdrawal fees and Connects as expenses, treats withdrawals as money moving to your bank, and writes one balanced journal per month against an Upwork balance account.
Why book gross income and fees instead of what lands in the bank?
Upwork takes its service fee out of every payment, so what you withdraw is already net. Booking only the withdrawal as income understates revenue, hides what the platform costs you, and puts income in the month you withdrew rather than the month you earned it. This page books each payment gross, the fee on its own line, in the month it happened.
How does the page know a row is missing?
The Upwork transaction history carries a running Balance. The page walks it row to row: each row's balance has to equal the one before plus its amount. A dropped or edited row breaks the chain, and the page names the two rows either side of the gap and the amount that is missing.
What is the Upwork balance account?
A holding account for money Upwork owes you. Each journal debits it with that month's net movement, and each withdrawal is booked to your bank account. When every row is journalled, the account equals the balance Upwork shows.
Which accounting software can I import to?
Xero (manual journal CSV), QuickBooks Online (journal entry CSV), QuickBooks Desktop (IIF general journal) and a plain CSV for anything else. You can rename the accounts for each category before downloading so they match your chart of accounts.
What does the page do with rows it does not recognise?
It never drops them. A row whose type is not one of the known Upwork types is journalled to an uncategorised account so the journal still equals the balance movement, and it is listed so you can review it.
Is it safe to paste an Upwork export into a web page?
The page runs in your browser, the file is read locally and nothing is uploaded. The history can name clients and contracts in its description; delete those columns if you would rather not have them on screen, because the page only needs the date, type, amount and balance.
What does this not check?
Whether the export matches your Upwork account or your books, tax treatment anywhere (US self-employment tax, VAT or reverse-charge on the fee), currency conversion for freelancers paid in another currency, and that the accounts exist in your accounting software. It is bookkeeping help, not tax or accounting advice.