Which file does your QuickBooks actually take?
For bank and credit card transactions — not invoices, not lists:
| You have | QuickBooks Desktop | QuickBooks Online |
|---|---|---|
Bank .csv / .txt |
No. Desktop has never had a CSV import for transactions | Yes — read natively. Try this first |
.qbo (Web Connect) |
Yes — this is the way in. Convert your CSV | Accepted, but give it the CSV first — see below |
.qfx / .ofx |
No. Web Connect takes .qbo only — .qfx is Quicken's |
Accepted |
.iif |
Yes — but it bypasses the bank feed. What that means | No. Desktop-only format |
Excel .xlsx |
No for transactions. The Excel importer only does lists — convert it | No for bank transactions. Save as CSV first, or convert to QBO |
| PDF statement | No | Online has extraction for some documents; a spreadsheet download from your bank is more reliable |
The one that surprises people
On Online, the plain CSV is the thing to try first, not last. We've had a
report of a .qbo upload failing on Online while the same statement went in fine
as a CSV. Converting first is the extra step there, not the fix.
On Desktop it's the exact opposite. A CSV is useless to it — the option simply isn't in the menu. If someone tells you to "just import the CSV" and you're on Desktop, they're describing Online.
Questions we've written up
- Can I upload a CSV file to QuickBooks Online? Yes — and the two column layouts it accepts
- Why won't my CSV file upload to QuickBooks? Eight causes, in the order worth checking
- An IIF import created a new account — and made it the wrong type What we measured against QuickBooks Desktop
- QuickBooks said the IIF import worked, but nothing came in Five test files, two silent failures, every invented account typed Bank
- My imported amounts are 1000× too small European number formats, and how to spot one
Or go straight to a converter
- CSV to QBO for QuickBooks Desktop
- Excel to QBO reads .xlsx directly
- CSV to IIF posts to a named account
- QBO to CSV read a .qbo you already have
- QBO to IIF when Web Connect won't take the .qbo
- CSV to QFX Quicken
- CSV to OFX GnuCash, Xero, Sage
- CSV to QIF Moneydance, older tools
Frequently asked questions
Why does QuickBooks Desktop have an Excel import that won't take my transactions?
Because that importer is for lists — customers, vendors, products and services. It's under File › Utilities › Import › Excel Files and it looks like the answer, which is exactly why people lose an afternoon to it. Bank and credit card transactions arrive through the bank feed instead, and the bank feed reads Web Connect files. See Excel to QBO.
Is a .qbo file the same as a QuickBooks company file?
No, and the similar names cause real confusion. A .qbo is a small text file of
bank transactions, meant to be imported. Your company file is .qbw (Desktop) —
the whole set of books. Importing a .qbo doesn't touch anything except the
transactions you approve.
Can QuickBooks export a .qbo file?
No. .qbo is an import-only format in practice — it's produced by banks, not by
QuickBooks. If you need to get transactions out, export a report, or use
QBO to CSV on a file your bank gave you.
Do any of these tools upload my bank statements somewhere?
Ours don't. Every converter on this site runs in your browser, and each page ships a
Content Security Policy with connect-src 'none' — the browser itself refuses
to let the page make a network request. Open your developer tools and watch the Network tab
while you convert; it stays empty.