CSV to QBO Converter
Upload the CSV your bank or card company gave you and download a .qbo file that QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online accept like any other bank download.
More options
For a file where money in and money out came out the wrong way round.
Use the same one each month and QuickBooks Desktop will remember the account.
Leave blank unless this account already imports .qbo files from your bank.
Drop your file here, or click to choose
Accepts .csv, .tsv and .txt exports from your bank or card - up to 15 MB
Why QuickBooks wants a .qbo file
Almost every bank lets you download your transactions as a CSV. Getting that CSV into QuickBooks is where people get stuck.
QuickBooks Desktop brings bank transactions in through Web Connect, and Web Connect reads .qbo files, not CSVs. QuickBooks Online will take a CSV, but it expects a 3-column or 4-column layout and has you match the columns by hand on every upload. An export with summary lines above the header, or a date format QuickBooks doesn't expect, usually has to be cleaned up in Excel first.
A .qbo file is what your bank produces when you choose the QuickBooks option on its download page. QuickBooks treats it as a normal bank download: the transactions go to the bank feed, and you match or add them the same way you would any other download.
What it reads from your CSV
Bank CSVs have no standard layout. Chase checking exports call the date column "Posting Date". Capital One's card export splits the amount into Debit and Credit. HDFC uses "Withdrawal Amt." and "Deposit Amt.", and Bank of America puts a block of totals above the real header row. The converter reads the header and the values under it and works out which column is which:
- Dates in the usual shapes, including 03/14/2024, 14/03/2024, 2024-03-14, 14-Mar-2024 and Mar 14, 2024. The day and month order is decided once for the whole file, so 03/04 can't be read as March on one row and April on the next.
- Amounts from a single column with minus signs, separate Debit and Credit columns, or one amount column with a DR/CR marker beside it. Brackets for negatives, a minus at the end, currency symbols and European formats such as 1.234,56 are all read correctly.
- The description, which becomes the payee in QuickBooks. The .qbo format allows 32 characters for a payee, so a longer description is shortened there and the full text is kept in the memo.
- Check numbers, when the file has a check column, so QuickBooks can match cleared checks to the ones you wrote.
- The closing balance, taken from the balance column when there is one.
Opening balance lines, totals and blank rows are left out. If the file has a status column, transactions marked pending are skipped, because they can still change before they clear. After converting, the page shows which columns were used and how the dates were read, so you can check before you import.
Importing the .qbo into QuickBooks
QuickBooks Desktop
- Go to File > Utilities > Import > Web Connect Files and choose the .qbo file.
- Pick the QuickBooks account the transactions belong to, or let QuickBooks create a new one.
- Open the Bank Feeds Center to review the transactions, then match or add them.
QuickBooks Online
- Go to Banking (Transactions > Bank transactions in the newer menu).
- Open the drop-down next to Link account and choose Upload from file.
- Choose the .qbo file and the account it belongs to. The transactions appear under For review.
Before you import
- Look at the date order. If every day in the file is 12 or lower, a date like 03/04 could be either. The converter goes by the order the rows run in, and says so on screen when it had to make an assumption. If it got it wrong, change Date format and convert again.
- Choose Credit card for card exports. Most card companies list purchases as positive numbers, and QuickBooks reads a positive number on a card account as a payment. With Credit card selected, purchases go in as charges.
- Keep the account number the same. QuickBooks Desktop remembers which account a .qbo file belongs to by the account number inside it. Enter the same number under More options each time and it will stop asking.
- Importing overlapping files is safe in Desktop. Each transaction gets an ID built from its date, amount and description, so the same row always gets the same ID. QuickBooks Desktop skips IDs it has already downloaded, so an export that overlaps last month's won't create duplicates.
How it works
- 1
Choose the account and upload
Pick Bank account or Credit card, then drop in the CSV, TSV or TXT file from your bank. There's no need to delete columns or header lines first.
- 2
The columns are read for you
Dates, descriptions, amounts, check numbers and the balance are found from their headings and contents, and the date order is settled for the whole file.
- 3
Download and import
Import the .qbo with Web Connect in QuickBooks Desktop, or Upload from file in QuickBooks Online. Your CSV and the .qbo are deleted from our server after 72 hours.
What it handles
Works with your bank's layout
One amount column, Debit and Credit columns, or an amount with a DR/CR marker. Comma, semicolon or tab separated, with or without a header row.
Dates read the same way on every row
Month-first, day-first and ISO dates are recognised, and the order is decided across the whole file before anything is converted.
Card purchases go in as charges
With Credit card selected, purchases become charges and payments become credits, whichever sign your card company used.
No duplicates when you re-import
Every transaction gets a stable ID, so QuickBooks Desktop recognises rows it has already downloaded and skips them.
Three ways to get a bank CSV into QuickBooks
Here's how this converter compares with QuickBooks Online's own CSV upload and with converter software you install.
| Feature | This converter | QuickBooks Online CSV upload | Installed converter software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works with QuickBooks Desktop | Yes | No | Yes |
| Works with QuickBooks Online | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Finds the date, description and amount columns itself | Yes | No | Varies |
| Reads separate Debit and Credit columns | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tells you when a date like 03/04 could be read either way | Yes | You pick a date format | Varies |
| Same row gets the same transaction ID every time | Yes | Not applicable | Varies |
| Nothing to install | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cost | Free daily allowance, paid plans for more | Included in QuickBooks Online | Usually a paid licence |
Frequently asked questions
- What is a QBO file?
- It's the file QuickBooks uses for Web Connect, Intuit's way of bringing in bank transactions from a downloaded file. Inside, it's OFX (the same format behind .ofx files and Quicken's .qfx files) plus a bank ID that QuickBooks Desktop checks. Banks offer it as the QuickBooks option on their download page.
- Can't I import my CSV straight into QuickBooks?
- In QuickBooks Online you can, as long as the file is in the 3-column or 4-column layout it asks for and you match the columns each time you upload. In QuickBooks Desktop, bank transactions come in through Web Connect, which only reads .qbo files. A .qbo file works the same way in both.
- Which CSV files does it work with?
- Transaction exports from banks and card companies where each row has a date and an amount. That includes files with separate Debit and Credit columns, a DR/CR column, a running balance, summary lines above the header, semicolon or tab separators, and number formats like 1.234,56. If a file can't be read, the message says what was missing.
- My bank writes the day first. Will the dates come out right?
- Yes. If any date in the file has a day above 12, the order is clear and every row is read that way. If none do, the converter checks whether the rows run in date order under one reading and not the other. When the file really doesn't say, it tells you which way it read the dates, and you can set Date format to Day first and convert again.
- Why do my card purchases show up as payments in QuickBooks?
- Usually because the file was converted with Account type set to Bank account. Card companies tend to list purchases as positive numbers, and on a card account QuickBooks treats a positive number as a payment. Convert it again with Credit card selected. If the signs still look wrong, open More options and change Amount signs.
- QuickBooks Desktop says it can't verify the financial institution. What do I do?
- QuickBooks Desktop only opens .qbo files that carry a bank ID from Intuit's list. By default the file uses 3000, the ID QuickBooks uses for Wells Fargo, so you may see that name during the import. It doesn't change which QuickBooks account the transactions go to. If this account already takes .qbo downloads from your own bank, open one of those files in Notepad, find the number after <INTU.BID>, and enter it under More options.
- Will importing the same transactions twice create duplicates?
- Not in QuickBooks Desktop. A transaction's ID comes from its date, amount, description and reference, so converting the same row again gives it the same ID, and Desktop skips IDs it has already downloaded into that account. That makes it safe to import an export that overlaps the last one. Two identical rows on the same day, such as two coffees from the same shop, get different IDs and both go in.
- Can I convert a PDF bank statement to QBO?
- Not on this page, which reads CSV files. Run the PDF through our bank statement converter, open the Excel file it gives you, save the Smart Data sheet as a CSV (File > Save As > CSV UTF-8), and convert that here. If you only use QuickBooks Online, the PDF to OFX converter is one step shorter, because QuickBooks Online also accepts .ofx uploads.
- What does it cost?
- It uses the same page allowance as everything else on the site. Every 40 transactions count as one page, rounded up, so a file with 40 or fewer is a single page. You can convert without an account up to the free daily limit shown above the upload box. For more, see the pricing page.
- What happens to my file?
- Your CSV and the .qbo made from it are kept on our server for 72 hours in case something needs checking. After that, both are deleted automatically, along with the record of the conversion. We don't share them with anyone.
Convert your CSV to QBO
Upload a bank or credit card CSV and download a .qbo file for QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online.