# Download PayPal Transactions as CSV for Your Books

- Author: SimpleBankConvert (https://www.simplebankconvert.com)
- Published: 2026-10-06
- Updated: 2026-10-06
- Category: Downloads from your bank
- Canonical: https://www.simplebankconvert.com/blog/download-paypal-transactions-as-csv

> How to download PayPal transactions as CSV from the activity report, which report type to choose and the columns to keep for QuickBooks or Xero.
To download PayPal transactions as CSV, sign in on a computer, open PayPal's activity download report, choose CSV as the format, pick a date range of up to 12 months and generate the file. Keep the date, name, gross, fee and net columns, then tidy the file before uploading it to QuickBooks or Xero.

## Where the PayPal activity report download lives

The PayPal activity download is a report in your PayPal account, separate from the scrolling activity list you see after signing in. You set a date range and a format, PayPal builds the file, and you download it when it is ready. Business accounts are where this report matters most.

[PayPal's developer documentation for the activity download report](https://developer.paypal.com/reports/activity-download) describes it: a calendar or preset ranges such as the past month, past 3 months or past 6 months, plus a "Since last download" choice. That last preset is useful for a monthly routine, because it starts where the previous file ended.

Do this on a computer. The report screens are built for a full browser, and the file is easier to open and check on a laptop than on a phone.

## Which PayPal download format should you pick: CSV, TAB, IIF or QIF?

Pick CSV for QuickBooks Online or Xero. PayPal's documentation lists PDF, CSV, TAB, IIF and QIF, with IIF for US accounts only and QIF for US dollars only. CSV opens in any spreadsheet and goes into both bank upload screens. The others suit narrower uses.

| Format | What it is | Good for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CSV | Comma-separated text | QuickBooks Online and Xero uploads, after tidying |
| TAB | Tab-separated text | Spreadsheets that struggle with commas in names |
| IIF | Intuit Interchange Format | QuickBooks Desktop list and transaction imports |
| QIF | Quicken Interchange Format | Quicken and older finance programs |
| PDF | A printable report | Records, not imports |

PayPal says the report is UTF-8 encoded. That matters if payee names contain accented letters: open the CSV with a spreadsheet's import tool and choose UTF-8, or names may come out garbled.

## PayPal CSV columns to keep for QuickBooks or Xero

A PayPal CSV holds far more columns than either QuickBooks or Xero needs. Keep the date, a description built from the name and type, and the money columns. Delete the rest in a copy of the file. PayPal's documentation lists 87 possible fields, so trimming is the main job.

PayPal marks some fields as mandatory, always present: Date, Time, TimeZone, Name, Type, Status, Currency, Gross, Fee, Net, From Email Address, To Email Address, Transaction ID, Reference Txn ID and Receipt ID. Balance is included by default. Here is how to treat them:

| Column | Keep or drop | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Date | Keep | The transaction date |
| Name | Keep | Becomes the payee or description |
| Type | Keep, or merge into the description | Tells a payment from a refund or a transfer |
| Status | Use to filter, then drop | Leave out lines that are not completed |
| Currency | Use to filter, then drop | One currency per upload |
| Gross | Keep or drop, see below | The full amount before fees |
| Fee | Keep or drop, see below | PayPal's charge |
| Net | Keep | What actually moved in your PayPal balance |
| Transaction ID | Keep in a memo column if you like | Useful for tracing |
| Time, TimeZone, email addresses, Reference Txn ID, Receipt ID, Balance | Drop | Not needed for the upload |

An example row, with made-up values: Date 2026-04-14, Name Example Customer LLC, Type Payment received, Gross 200.00, Fee -6.10, Net 193.90. The simplest upload uses Net as the amount. It matches your PayPal balance, but it hides the fee.

To show fees as expenses, split each sale into two lines: Gross as income and Fee as a separate expense line. That takes more spreadsheet work, so decide once and stick to it. For QuickBooks Online, [Intuit's guide to uploading transactions manually](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/import-transactions/manually-upload-transactions-quickbooks-online/L0rE9OXBz_US_en_US) accepts a 3-column layout (Date, Description, Amount) or 4 columns with separate credit and debit.

## How much PayPal history fits in one CSV download?

One PayPal CSV covers at most 12 months, and you can reach back up to 7 years in total, according to PayPal's documentation. Each CSV or TAB report holds up to 50,000 records. A larger report is split into several files and delivered as a ZIP, so a very busy year may arrive in parts.

For a multi-year catch-up, generate one report per year, or per quarter on a busy account. Each file arrives with the same generic name, Download plus the format's ending, so rename each one as soon as it lands, for example `paypal-2025-q1.csv`.

There is a separate limit on the QuickBooks side. Intuit caps each upload at 1,000 lines and 350 KB, which a PayPal year can easily pass. Split the trimmed file by month before uploading. For how history limits compare across banks and cards, see [how far back you can download bank transactions](/blog/how-far-back-can-you-download-bank-transactions).

## PayPal fees and currency lines that break a straight CSV import

A PayPal CSV uploaded unchanged breaks in a few predictable places: fees that vanish into net amounts, currency conversions that appear as two or three linked lines, and transfers to your bank that look like spending. Each needs a decision before upload, not a fix afterwards.

- **Currency conversions.** A payment received in another currency may come with extra conversion lines when it is changed into dollars. Upload one currency only, usually your home currency, and filter by the Currency column.
- **Transfers to your bank.** Moving money from PayPal to your checking account is a transfer between your own accounts, not an expense. When the bank account's file shows the same money arriving, match the two as one transfer.
- **Pending or denied lines.** Filter by Status so only completed lines go in.
- **Card-funded payments.** A purchase paid from a linked card may also appear on that card's statement. Record it once. The post on [getting Discover card transactions into QuickBooks](/blog/download-discover-card-transactions-to-quickbooks) shows the card side.

If PayPal is part of a wider move, such as [switching from FreshBooks to QuickBooks Online](/blog/switch-from-freshbooks-to-quickbooks-online), set a cutover date first so PayPal history is not imported twice.

SimpleBankConvert is being built for PDF bank statements rather than PayPal reports, but if your checking account statements are PDFs, it aims to turn them into a CSV or QBO file for QuickBooks Online. You can [join the early access list](/get-started) while accounts are not yet open.