Guides
Short, plain answers to the file problems people hit when moving bank data into QuickBooks and Quicken.
Bank files into QuickBooks
- How to fix "QuickBooks is unable to verify the financial institution"QuickBooks Desktop shows this when it can't accept the bank named inside a .qbo file, or when your bank feed setup or Intuit sign-in gets in the way. Re-download the file from your bank, sign in, try Classic mode, and if the file came from a converter, make it again with one that writes a supported bank ID.
- How to import bank transactions into QuickBooks OnlineIn QuickBooks Online go to Bank transactions, open the Link account menu and choose Upload from file. Drop in a QBO, QFX or CSV file of 350 KB or less, pick the account, match the columns for a CSV, and review the transactions. Intuit recommends QBO.
- QuickBooks Web Connect: how to import a QBO fileWeb Connect is how QuickBooks Desktop imports a bank file you download yourself. Download the .qbo file from your bank, then in QuickBooks choose Banking, Bank Feeds, Import Web Connect Files, and link it to your account. Web Connect only reads .qbo files.
- What is a QBO file?A QBO file is a bank statement file in Intuit's Web Connect format. Banks offer it so you can import transactions into QuickBooks. Inside, it's an OFX file with one extra Intuit tag that names the bank.
Quicken imports
- How to import a CSV into QuickenQuicken for Windows imports CSV through File, File Import, Banking Transactions, From (.CSV) File, but the columns must be in Quicken's exact order. Quicken for Mac imports CSV only into a new account. Neither skips duplicates, so a QFX file is often easier.
- How to import a QFX file into QuickenIn Quicken for Windows choose File, File Import, Web Connect (.QFX) File. On a Mac choose File, Import, Bank or Brokerage File (OFX, QFX). Pick the account and review the new transactions. Quicken needs an active subscription to accept the file.
- What is a QFX file?A QFX file is a bank statement download for Quicken. Quicken calls it a Web Connect file: you download it from your bank's website and import it, and the transactions land in your Quicken account. Inside, it's plain text in the OFX format.
Bank download formats
- How to open a QBO, QFX or OFX fileQBO, QFX and OFX files are plain text in the OFX format, so any text editor opens them, but Excel shows them as a jumble of tags. To read the transactions as a table, convert the file to CSV and open that in Excel or Google Sheets.
- What is a QIF file?A QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) file is an older plain-text format for financial transactions, one field per line. Quicken still imports it in some cases, and many other finance apps read it, but it has no transaction IDs, so re-importing can create duplicates.
- What is an OFX file?An OFX (Open Financial Exchange) file is the standard format banks use to send transactions to finance apps such as Xero, GnuCash and Moneydance. It's plain text with one tag per value. QFX and QBO files are OFX files made for Quicken and QuickBooks.