Bank Statement to OFX, QFX and QIF Converter

OFX, QFX and QIF: what they are

OFX (Open Financial Exchange) is the standard file format that banks use to deliver transactions to personal finance and accounting software. It describes the account, the statement period, the ledger balance and every transaction with a unique ID. Most packages that import bank files read it.

QFX is Intuit's variation of OFX for Quicken. It is the same data with an Intuit bank identifier added, which Quicken requires before it accepts a file. QBO is the matching variant for QuickBooks, and has its own PDF to QBO page.

QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) is an older, simpler text format with a date, an amount and a payee per transaction and no unique IDs. It is still accepted by many programs, including Xero and several UK and Australian packages, and is useful when OFX is not.

Which software uses which format

Software changes menus often, so treat the last column as a pointer and check the vendor help for your version.

How to convert

1. Upload the statement PDF above.
2. Check the transaction table and the balance banner. Correct any row that read wrongly.
3. Select OFX, QFX or QIF. For bank accounts and credit cards the correct account type is used in the file, which affects how your software signs the amounts.
4. Download and import the file into your software, choosing the matching account.

What makes an OFX file valid

Software that imports OFX is strict. A single malformed tag can make the whole file fail with an unhelpful message. We generate OFX 1.0.2 in the SGML form that nearly every importer accepts, with a plain-text header block, a SIGNONMSGSRSV1 section, a BANKMSGSRSV1 (or CREDITCARDMSGSRSV1) section, a statement transaction list with DTSTART and DTEND, and a ledger balance with an as-of date.

Details that commonly break imports are handled for you. The NAME field is limited to 32 characters and anything longer moves into MEMO. Characters that have special meaning in SGML are escaped, and non-ASCII characters are transliterated. Dates are posted at noon GMT so a transaction does not move to the previous day when the importing software applies a time zone. Every transaction has a FITID that is unique inside the file, built from the date and a hash of the amount and description, with a counter added for identical repeated rows.

Credit card statements

In OFX, a credit card is a different message set from a bank account. Charges are negative, payments are positive, and the ledger balance is the amount owed, shown as a negative number. If a credit card statement is imported as a bank account, charges look like deposits. The converter detects credit card statements and writes the credit card structure, and you can switch the account type in the fix options if the first guess was wrong.

Common import errors

• Quicken says the file is not from a supported institution. Quicken checks the Intuit bank identifier in QFX files. If your institution is not recognised, try the OFX download or the QIF download and import into a manual account.
• Dates in the wrong order. Switch Date order in the fix options. OFX itself stores dates unambiguously, so the problem is in the reading step, and it is visible in the preview.
• Amounts reversed. Use Flip all signs, or check whether the account is a credit card.
• Duplicates. Import only dates you do not already have. Unique IDs let most programs skip repeats.

Independent tool

Quicken is a trademark of Quicken Inc. and QuickBooks of Intuit Inc. Statement2QBO is not affiliated with any software vendor named on this page.

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