diff --git a/app/controllers/import/configurations_controller.rb b/app/controllers/import/configurations_controller.rb
index 989e44409..85e6e402d 100644
--- a/app/controllers/import/configurations_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/import/configurations_controller.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ class Import::ConfigurationsController < ApplicationController
     @import.reload.sync_mappings
 
     redirect_to import_clean_path(@import), notice: "Import configured successfully."
+  rescue ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid => e
+    message = e.record.errors.full_messages.to_sentence.presence || e.message
+    redirect_back_or_to import_configuration_path(@import), alert: message
   end
 
   private
diff --git a/app/models/category_import.rb b/app/models/category_import.rb
index b023849c8..a862bb77d 100644
--- a/app/models/category_import.rb
+++ b/app/models/category_import.rb
@@ -59,19 +59,52 @@ class CategoryImport < Import
   def generate_rows_from_csv
     rows.destroy_all
 
+    validate_required_headers!
+
+    name_header = header_for("name")
+    color_header = header_for("color")
+    parent_header = header_for("parent_category", "parent category")
+    classification_header = header_for("classification")
+    icon_header = header_for("lucide_icon", "lucide icon", "icon")
+
     csv_rows.each do |row|
       rows.create!(
-        name: row["name"].to_s.strip,
-        category_color: row["color"].to_s.strip,
-        category_parent: row["parent_category"].to_s.strip,
-        category_classification: row["classification"].to_s.strip,
-        category_icon: (row["lucide_icon"].presence || row["icon"]).to_s.strip,
+        name: row[name_header].to_s.strip,
+        category_color: row[color_header].to_s.strip,
+        category_parent: row[parent_header].to_s.strip,
+        category_classification: row[classification_header].to_s.strip,
+        category_icon: row[icon_header].to_s.strip,
         currency: default_currency
       )
     end
   end
 
   private
+    def validate_required_headers!
+      missing_headers = required_column_keys.map(&:to_s).reject { |key| header_for(key).present? }
+      return if missing_headers.empty?
+
+      errors.add(:base, "Missing required columns: #{missing_headers.join(', ')}")
+      raise ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid.new(self)
+    end
+
+    def header_for(*candidates)
+      candidates.each do |candidate|
+        normalized = normalize_header(candidate)
+        header = normalized_headers[normalized]
+        return header if header.present?
+      end
+
+      nil
+    end
+
+    def normalized_headers
+      @normalized_headers ||= csv_headers.to_h { |header| [ normalize_header(header), header ] }
+    end
+
+    def normalize_header(header)
+      header.to_s.strip.downcase.gsub(/\*/, "").gsub(/[\s-]+/, "_")
+    end
 
     def ensure_placeholder_category(name)
       trimmed_name = name.to_s.strip
diff --git a/test/models/category_import_test.rb b/test/models/category_import_test.rb
index e6b9d2045..99e645c33 100644
--- a/test/models/category_import_test.rb
+++ b/test/models/category_import_test.rb
@@ -69,4 +69,29 @@ class CategoryImportTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     assert_equal "#bbbbbb", snacks.color
     assert_equal "pizza", snacks.lucide_icon
   end
+
+  test "accepts required headers with an asterisk suffix" do
+    csv = <<~CSV
+      name*,color,parent_category,classification,icon
+      Food & Drink,#f97316,,expense,carrot
+    CSV
+
+    import = @family.imports.create!(type: "CategoryImport", raw_file_str: csv, col_sep: ",")
+    import.generate_rows_from_csv
+
+    assert_equal 1, import.rows.count
+    assert_equal "Food & Drink", import.rows.first.name
+  end
+
+  test "fails fast when required headers are missing" do
+    csv = <<~CSV
+      title,color,parent_category,classification,icon
+      Food & Drink,#f97316,,expense,carrot
+    CSV
+
+    import = @family.imports.create!(type: "CategoryImport", raw_file_str: csv, col_sep: ",")
+
+    error = assert_raises(ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid) { import.generate_rows_from_csv }
+    assert_includes error.message, "Missing required columns: name"
+  end
 end