Free QBO to IIF Converter

Turn a .qbo file into an .iif that QuickBooks Desktop will import, for when Web Connect won't take it. No signup, and your statements never leave your browser.

If Web Connect takes it, use Web Connect

A .qbo is the file QuickBooks Desktop is designed to import. On a Mac it goes in through File, Import, From Web Connect. On Windows it's File, Utilities, Import, Web Connect Files.

That route is better when it works. Every transaction in a .qbo carries an ID from your bank, and QuickBooks uses it to recognise transactions it already has: we imported six transactions, then a file that overlapped three of them, and ended up with nine, not twelve. An IIF file can't carry those IDs.

This page is for when that import doesn't work. Drop the file in and the panel above tells you whether it has what Web Connect checks for, and how many bank IDs the IIF would leave behind.

Why QuickBooks Desktop refuses a .qbo

An IIF import is a separate door. On a Mac it's File, Import, From IIF Files; on Windows, File, Utilities, Import, IIF Files. The format has no field for a bank ID, so there is nothing for that check to find. We haven't tested a version Intuit has retired, so we can't promise it works there.

What you give up by going through IIF

Duplicate protection. IIF has no field for your bank's transaction IDs, so QuickBooks can't tell whether a transaction is already in your books. We imported the same file twice and got every transaction twice. QuickBooks warned once, that check number 1042 had already been used, and carried on when we said yes; the four transactions without a check number came in again with no warning at all. If you're filling a gap while a bank feed is down, write down the date range you imported.

Being asked where they go. Web Connect stops to ask which of your accounts the transactions belong to. The IIF import doesn't: it posts to the account named in the file, and when it finished the transactions were already in the register. QuickBooks for Mac did insist on backing up the company file first. Keep that backup until you've checked the register.

Before you import: the account name

An IIF file finds the account by name. If the account is already in your QuickBooks, paste the name exactly as it appears in your chart of accounts; spelling, spaces and capitals all count.

If the name doesn't match, QuickBooks doesn't ask. It creates a new account. Our IIF files declare the type of every account they use, and on the version we tested a missing account came out with the declared type: a credit card account as a Credit Card account, with the charges recorded as CC, and an expense account as an Expense account. An account that already existed kept the type it had. So a typo gives you a second account holding these transactions next to the real one, with no error. What we measured.

Frequently asked questions

Why convert a .qbo to IIF instead of importing the .qbo?

Only when Desktop won't import the .qbo. Through Web Connect, a .qbo keeps your bank's transaction IDs, so overlapping imports get caught. IIF is the way in when Web Connect refuses the file: a version Intuit no longer supports, or a bank ID that's missing or can't be verified.

Will this work on an old version of QuickBooks Desktop?

We tested on QuickBooks Desktop for Mac Plus 2024. We haven't tested a version Intuit has retired, so we can't promise it. What we can say is that an IIF file has no bank ID for Desktop to check.

What happens if I import the same statement twice?

You get the transactions twice. IIF has nowhere to put your bank's transaction IDs, so nothing is checked. QuickBooks may warn about a check number it has already seen, but that warning doesn't stop the import, and transactions without a check number get no warning at all. The panel above shows how many IDs your file has, so you can see what's being dropped.

Why doesn't the balance in QuickBooks match the closing balance?

An IIF file carries transactions, not your bank's balance. We imported a statement that closed at 3,225.50 into an account that started at zero, and the register showed 1,225.50: the five transactions added up. The 2,000.00 difference is what the account held before the statement began, and that isn't in the file.

My .qbo has more than one account in it.

Convert them one at a time. An IIF file posts every transaction to one named account, so two accounts together would land in the same place with no error. The page asks which account you're importing.

Is my file uploaded anywhere?

No. The conversion runs in your browser, and the page ships a Content Security Policy with connect-src 'none', so the browser refuses to let it make any network request. The Network tab in developer tools stays empty.

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