A QBO file account type mismatch happens when the file says it is from a credit card and you point it at a bank account in QuickBooks, or the reverse. QuickBooks Online warns that the file is a different type than the account. Cancel, then pick an account of the same type, or get the right file from the bank.
How a QBO file declares card or bank
A QBO file states its own account type in the tags that wrap its transactions, before the first transaction appears. You can read them in any plain text editor. A bank file and a card file use different wrappers, so the type is visible in the first screenful of text.
The OFX 2.2 specification, the standard QBO files follow, defines two separate blocks. Bank accounts use <BANKMSGSRSV1> with an account block called <BANKACCTFROM>, which holds a bank ID, an account number and an <ACCTTYPE>. Credit cards use <CREDITCARDMSGSRSV1> with a <CCACCTFROM> block, which holds the account number and no type field at all.
Here are the two side by side. All values are examples:
Bank file Card file
<BANKMSGSRSV1> <CREDITCARDMSGSRSV1>
<STMTTRNRS> <CCSTMTTRNRS>
<STMTRS> <CCSTMTRS>
<BANKACCTFROM> <CCACCTFROM>
<BANKID>011000015 <ACCTID>4111000000001234
<ACCTID>000123456789 </CCACCTFROM>
<ACCTTYPE>CHECKING
</BANKACCTFROM>
To check a file, open it in Notepad or TextEdit and search for CREDITCARD. One match or more means it is a card file. None, and a <BANKACCTFROM> block present, means a bank file.
The bank decides which kind it sends, based on which account you were looking at when you downloaded. A file taken from the card's page is a card file even if the same bank also holds your checking account.
The "different type than these accounts" message in QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online compares the file's type with the account you choose during the upload. When they disagree, Intuit's list of bank upload errors gives the message "The uploaded file is of a different type than these accounts," with two choices.
Intuit describes them plainly. Cancel lets you go back and choose the correct account. OK continues with the download into the account you picked.
The message is a warning, not a block. That is the trap. Pressing OK lets the file through, so the mismatch becomes a problem in your books instead of a problem with the upload.
The same warning applies when the mismatch runs the other way, with a checking file aimed at a credit card account. The fix is the same as well: Cancel, then choose an account whose type matches the file.
Choosing after you cancel
On the account screen, the list shows every bank and card account in the company. If no account of the right type exists yet, use the option to add a new one and set its type to credit card or bank to match the file. Give it a name you will recognise, such as the card's name and the last four digits of the number.
Should a credit card QBO file ever go into a bank account?
Almost never. A credit card QBO file describes a balance you owe, and a bank account in QuickBooks describes money you hold. Putting one into the other changes what every line means. The only sound reason to press OK is that the account in QuickBooks was set up with the wrong type and you will correct that account afterwards.
That case does happen. Someone creates "Business Visa" as a checking account by mistake, connects nothing to it, and starts uploading card files. The warning appears every time. The right fix there is the account, not the file. Change the account's type to credit card in the chart of accounts, if QuickBooks allows it for that account, or create a proper card account and move the history.
Intuit's guide to formatting CSV files for bank transactions makes the same point for CSV uploads: for a credit card file, choose the credit card account, not a bank account.
Other reasons people give for pressing OK do not hold up:
- "The card is paid from checking, so it belongs there." The payment belongs in checking. The purchases belong in the card account.
- "It's a debit card." A debit card spends straight from checking, so its transactions are already in the checking file. A debit card file from the bank is usually a bank file anyway.
- "I only need the total." One payment line from checking to the card account does that, and the card's detail stays where it belongs.
What flips when card transactions land in a bank register
Signs flip. The OFX specification says amounts are signed from the customer's point of view, and gives the example that a credit card payment is positive while a purchase is negative. In a card account, those signs move what you owe. In a bank register, the same numbers move cash.
The result is a register that looks plausible and is wrong. Purchases come in as money leaving checking, which overstates what was spent from the bank. Card payments come in as deposits, which looks like income. If the matching payment also arrives from the real checking file, the same payment now appears twice: once leaving checking and once arriving as if it were a deposit into it.
Here is an example of three card lines forced into a checking account. The values are made up:
| Card line | Amount in file | What it should do | What it does in checking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office supplies | -86.40 | Raise the card balance | Lowers cash by 86.40 |
| Software subscription | -29.00 | Raise the card balance | Lowers cash by 29.00 |
| Payment, thank you | 500.00 | Lower the card balance | Raises cash by 500.00, like a deposit |
Reconciliation is where this surfaces. The checking account no longer agrees with the bank statement, and the card account, if it exists, is short. The clean fix is to delete the misplaced lines and upload the file again into the card account. Intuit's CSV guide also warns that in a credit card file, deposits may show as negative amounts and transactions may appear in reverse order, so check the sign convention once the file is in the right place.
Checking, savings and credit line types in a bank QBO file
A bank QBO file carries a second, finer type: the <ACCTTYPE> value inside <BANKACCTFROM>. The OFX specification lists CHECKING, SAVINGS, MONEYMRKT for money market, CD for certificate of deposit and CREDITLINE for a line of credit. This sits under the bank-or-card choice and describes which kind of bank account the file came from.
Most people never need to think about it. The value is filled in by the bank. Intuit's upload error article only describes the card-versus-bank warning, and it doesn't describe a separate message for checking versus savings.
Two edge cases are worth knowing:
- A line of credit. A CREDITLINE file is a bank file in its wrapper but behaves like borrowing. In QuickBooks, a line of credit is often set up as a liability, not a bank account. Decide where the account lives before you upload, and keep it consistent month to month.
- A hand-built file. Converters and people who write QBO files by hand sometimes set every file to CHECKING. That keeps the upload moving, but it's worth correcting if the account is savings, so the file matches the statement it came from.
Pick another account or fix the QBO file?
Pick another account when the file is right and the choice was wrong, which is the usual case. Fix the file, or rather get a new one, only when the bank sent the wrong kind. The table below matches what you see to the fix. The account names are examples.
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Card file, chose "Business Checking" | Wrong account picked | Cancel, choose the card account |
| Card file, no card account exists | Account never set up | Cancel, add a credit card account |
| Card file, "Business Visa" set up as bank | Account has the wrong type | Correct or replace the account, then upload |
| Bank file from the card's page | Downloaded from the wrong place | Download again from the card's page |
| Card file, warning, and you pressed OK | Lines in the wrong register | Delete them, upload into the card account |
After the fix, compare the card account's balance in QuickBooks with the closing balance on the card statement for the same date. If they agree, every line landed in the right place with the right sign. If they differ, look first for a card payment recorded twice, or for a purchase whose sign came in reversed, since those are the two traces a forced upload most often leaves behind.
Card connections fail for their own reasons, and a file upload is often how people cover the gap. When a card's bank feed stops with a sign-in limit, the guide to QuickBooks error 179 explains the wait. When the bank wants you to accept something on its website, QuickBooks error 108 covers it. Either way, the card file you download to fill the gap belongs in the card account.
Quicken users see a related check with a different message. The guide to a Quicken QFX import error covers the bank ID and an account already linked to another bank.
When your card issuer only gives you PDF statements, SimpleBankConvert is being built to turn them into a QBO file for QuickBooks. It isn't taking accounts yet, and the get started page will tell you when it does.