# Import OFX File into Xero Step by Step - Author: SimpleBankConvert (https://www.simplebankconvert.com) - Published: 2025-10-01 - Updated: 2025-10-01 - Category: Xero imports - Canonical: https://www.simplebankconvert.com/blog/import-ofx-file-into-xero > How to import an OFX file into Xero: the upload screen, which bank account to pick and how Xero handles OFX transaction IDs it has already seen. To import an OFX file into Xero, find the bank account the file belongs to, open its menu, choose Import a Statement and select the .ofx file. Xero reads the dates, amounts and payees without any column matching. Check the review screen, save, and then compare the account balance with your bank's closing figure. ## What is inside an OFX file headed for Xero? An OFX file is a text file in the Open Financial Exchange format, a standard that banks use to hand transaction data to software. Each transaction sits in its own block of tags holding a date, a signed amount, a name and a unique transaction ID. Xero reads those tags directly, so the file needs no column mapping. ### One transaction, tag by tag The block below is an example written for this guide. The payee and numbers are made up. ``` DEBIT 20260914 -148.20 2026091400017 HARBORVIEW PRINTING Card purchase ``` - **TRNTYPE** says what kind of transaction it is, such as a debit or a credit. - **DTPOSTED** is the posting date, written year, month, day. - **TRNAMT** is the amount. A minus sign means money left the account. - **FITID** is the bank's ID for this one transaction. - **NAME** and **MEMO** carry the payee and any extra text. ### Why the ID matters The [OFX 2.2 specification](https://financialdataexchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/OFX-2.2.pdf) says the bank assigns the FITID to identify a transaction uniquely, and that its primary purpose is to let software detect duplicate downloads. That ID is the main thing an OFX file has that a typical CSV does not. A later section looks at what that means for a second upload. ### OFX compared with other files Xero can take A CSV carries the same facts in columns that you must match yourself. A QIF file is an older text format with fewer fields and no transaction ID; [importing a QIF file into Xero](/blog/import-qif-file-into-xero) covers that route. If your bank gives you a choice, OFX usually needs the least handling. ## Picking the Xero bank account for an OFX upload The OFX upload lands in whichever Xero bank account you start from, so pick the account first. The file holds an account number, but you should not rely on Xero to redirect the lines. Match the last four digits printed in your online banking to the account name in Xero before you upload anything. ### Accounts that look alike Small businesses often have two checking accounts, a savings account and one or more cards, all at the same bank. Their downloads can have similar file names, such as a date and the bank's name. Rename each file as soon as you download it, for example adding "checking-4417" or "card-2290" to the name. That one habit prevents most wrong-account imports. ### Card files need a card account A credit card download is still an OFX file, but it belongs in a card account in Xero, not in your checking account. If you have not set the card up yet, do that first. [Importing a credit card statement into Xero](/blog/import-credit-card-statement-into-xero) explains how to add the card as an account and what signs its charges and payments should carry. ### If the account is not in Xero yet Add it as a bank account before importing. Use a name you will recognise, and include the last four digits. A bank account added only to receive file imports works the same as one with a feed. ## Uploading the OFX file to Xero, step by step The upload is short: open the account, choose the import option, select the file and review. Menu names can shift when Xero updates its screens, so treat the steps below as the usual route and follow what you see on your own screen if it differs. ### The steps 1. In Xero, go to Accounting, then Bank accounts. 2. Find the account that matches the file, by name and last four digits. 3. Click the menu icon next to the account. 4. Choose Import a statement. 5. Browse to the .ofx file and select it. 6. Continue to the review screen. OFX needs no column mapping, so you go straight to the preview. 7. Check the first and last dates, the number of lines and a few amounts. 8. Complete the import. ### What to check after saving Open the account's statement list and confirm the new lines are there. Then compare the balance Xero shows for the bank statement with the balance your bank reports at the last date in the file. If they match, the file is complete. If they differ by an exact amount, search for that amount near the start or end of the file, because boundary days are where lines go missing or repeat. ### Keep the file Store the downloaded OFX file with the statement period in its name. If you ever need to work out what came from where, the original file is the evidence. ## Do repeated OFX transaction IDs stop duplicates in Xero? Do not count on it. The OFX standard intends the FITID for duplicate detection, but whether Xero skips a line it has seen before depends on Xero's own rules, which this guide cannot confirm. The safe practice is to make files that do not overlap, so the question never comes up. ### What the standard expects The OFX 2.2 specification describes FITIDs as unique within an account, and says software should use them to detect whether a transaction has been downloaded before. A file built that way gives software what it needs to recognise a repeat. A file in which the IDs change from one download to the next does not, even if every other value is the same. ### Why overlap still bites Banks do not always keep IDs stable. Some generate a new ID each time you download, especially for a custom date range. A converter that builds an OFX file from a PDF has to invent IDs too. Either way, two files covering the same week can present the same purchase with two different IDs. Xero then has no reliable way to tell the second one is a repeat. [Converting a PDF to OFX](/blog/pdf-to-ofx) has more on how converted files handle IDs. ### A rule that always works Before each download, note the date of the newest line already in the Xero account. Set the download to start the next day. If the bank only offers whole months, pick months that do not overlap what Xero already has. When duplicates do appear, compare each repeated pair with the bank statement and remove only the extra copy. ## OFX files that Xero refuses or reads as empty An OFX file can upload and show no transactions, or fail with a short error. The usual reasons are a file that is not really OFX, a damaged tag, or a date range with no posted activity. Open the file in a text editor first. A real OFX file shows tags like those in the example block above. ### Things to check in the file - **It is OFX and not something else.** A file that opens as a web page, or as rows separated by commas, is not OFX, whatever its extension says. - **The file has transactions.** Search for STMTTRN. If there are none, the date range you picked may have had no posted lines. - **Dates are in the range you expect.** A file with a DTPOSTED in the wrong year usually means the download settings were wrong. - **Nothing was edited by hand.** Opening an OFX file in a word processor and saving it can add formatting that breaks it. Download it again instead. ### When to switch to CSV If one bank's OFX keeps failing, download a CSV instead. It takes a minute longer because you must match columns, but you can open it, see every value, and fix anything wrong before the upload. If your bank offers neither file and only a PDF, [importing a PDF bank statement into Xero](/blog/import-pdf-bank-statement-into-xero) covers that case. SimpleBankConvert is being built for exactly that gap: it turns a PDF statement into a CSV laid out for Xero's import, and the [get started page](/get-started) takes your name for when it opens. ## QFX and QBO downloads standing in for an OFX file in Xero QFX and QBO are close relatives of OFX that banks label for Quicken and QuickBooks. Underneath, they usually use the same tagged structure, with a few extra fields for those programs. Xero lists OFX, QFX and QuickBooks files together as one accepted import format, so a bank's QFX or QBO file can usually go in as it is. ### Trying a QFX or QBO file If your bank offers OFX, choose it. If it offers only QFX or QBO, upload that file to Xero as it is; [Xero's page on manually importing bank statements](https://central.xero.com/0/article/About-manually-importing-bank-statements) names both among the accepted formats. If the import screen refuses it, do not rename the extension and try again without looking inside: open the file in a text editor and check that it contains STMTTRN blocks. Some banks put Quicken-only header lines at the top that other software may not expect. ### Where these downloads come from Banks put these choices in different places. A US bank that labels its download for QuickBooks is a typical case; [downloading a QBO file from Wells Fargo](/blog/how-to-download-qbo-file-from-wells-fargo) shows one bank's version of the menu, and many others look similar. ### A short checklist before any upload - The file name says which account and which dates it covers. - The Xero account matches the last four digits. - The first date is the day after the newest line already in Xero. - You have the bank's closing balance for the last date to compare after the import.