Yes, you can import bank transactions into QuickBooks Online Simple Start. The bank upload is part of the plan, so a CSV, QBO or QFX file, or a PDF statement, goes in through the same screens other plans use. What Simple Start lacks are extras such as class tracking and item lines on expenses, which need Plus or Advanced.
Does the bank upload work on QuickBooks Online Simple Start?
The bank upload works on Simple Start. Intuit's manual upload help page lists Simple Start among the QuickBooks products it applies to, alongside Essentials, Plus, Advanced and others. A Simple Start user uploads files exactly as anyone else does.
The same page lists what the upload takes. Transaction lists can be QBO, QFX or CSV files, with QBO preferred. Account statements can be PDF, JPG, PNG or HEIC images, which QuickBooks reads and shows beside the extracted data for you to check.
If your plan seems to lack the upload option, look for it under the bank account's Link account menu as Upload from file. Its location moves between versions more often than it disappears.
Running a bank upload on Simple Start, screen by screen
The upload on Simple Start follows the same screens as every other plan. You start from Bank transactions, choose the file, pick the account, match the columns, and select the lines to bring in. Then the lines wait in the review list until you categorize and add them.
These steps follow Intuit's upload page. Menu names change from time to time.
- Go to All apps, then Accounting, then Bank transactions.
- Select the account tile, if you see one.
- Open the Link account menu and choose Upload from file.
- Add your file and continue.
- Choose the QuickBooks account, or use Add New to create one.
- For a CSV, match each file column to a QuickBooks field.
- Select the transactions to import, confirm and select Done.
Check the signs once the lines are in. If deposits show as withdrawals, the amounts were reversed, which fixing deposits imported as withdrawals explains how to repair.
Simple Start file rules: size, rows and columns
The file rules on Simple Start are the same as on any plan. A transaction list must be 350 KB or less, hold no more than 1,000 lines and be in English, according to Intuit. A CSV uses three columns or four, one date format throughout, and blank cells instead of zeros.
| Import task | Simple Start? | Where this comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Upload a CSV, QBO or QFX file | Yes | Intuit upload help page |
| Upload a PDF or image statement | Yes | Intuit upload help page |
| Split a line across categories in review | Yes, no plan limit stated | Intuit categorize help page |
| Tag imported lines with classes | No, needs Plus or Advanced | Intuit class tracking page |
| Show an items table on expense forms | No, needs Plus or Advanced | Intuit categorize help page |
A year of transactions from a busy account can pass 1,000 lines. Split the file by date range and upload each part. The QuickBooks Online bank upload limit covers how to divide a large file. If your transactions live in a spreadsheet, importing Excel into QuickBooks shows how to tidy it into an upload CSV.
Payment apps work the same way on Simple Start. Importing PayPal transactions shows how to set PayPal up as its own bank account and upload its activity there.
What Simple Start leaves out of an imported transaction
Simple Start brings in the date, description and amount of each line, lets you pick a category and payee, and lets you split a line across categories. What it leaves out are tags that need a higher plan. Class tracking and item lines on expense forms are two examples.
Intuit's class tracking page applies the feature to Plus and Advanced. Intuit's help page on categorizing bank transactions says the setting that shows an items table on expense and purchase forms is available in Plus and Advanced. On Simple Start, you track spending by category and payee instead.
None of this affects whether the upload works. It only limits what you can add to each line after it is in.
Should a Simple Start user upgrade for imports?
Upgrade only when you need something the plan does not have, not to make the upload work. If you need to report by location, department or service line, or to put inventory items on expense lines, a higher plan may be worth it. For getting bank lines in and categorized, Simple Start already covers it.
Other imports, such as lists of customers, invoices or bills, may have their own plan rules. Check Intuit's help page for that import before you rely on it, since plan features change.
Before upgrading, try the work on your current plan for a month. Most small businesses that import bank lines need only a category, a payee and sometimes a split. If you start from PDF statements, SimpleBankConvert is being built to turn them into upload files that work on any plan.