A QFX to QBO converter changes a Quicken bank file into a QuickBooks one. The transactions inside stay the same. The converter edits the header so QuickBooks recognises the file as its own, mainly the Intuit bank ID line. Test the result on a spare account before you import it into your real books.
QFX, OFX and QBO: how close are these three formats?
QFX, OFX and QBO are very close. All three are the same kind of plain text file, built on the Open Financial Exchange standard (OFX), and a QFX or QBO file is an OFX file with Intuit additions. The transactions look the same in each. The differences sit in a few lines near the top.
- OFX is the open standard. Banks and software from many makers read it.
- QFX is the version Intuit made for Quicken. Banks offer it as "Download for Quicken".
- QBO is the version Intuit made for QuickBooks, also called Web Connect. Banks offer it as "Download for QuickBooks".
All three use the same tags for the account, the date range and each transaction. If you opened a QFX and a QBO from the same bank in a text editor, you would struggle to tell the transaction blocks apart.
The differences that matter:
- The institution lines. Each file names the bank, with an organisation name and an ID. Intuit products check that ID against their own list.
- Which product the file is meant for. A QBO is made to be accepted by QuickBooks and a QFX by Quicken. Each product can be strict about the other.
- Bank-specific extras. Some banks add their own tags, which the receiving product may ignore.
For a longer description of the tags, what is inside a QBO file shows an annotated example. The upshot is simple: converting QFX to QBO is not a rebuild of the data. It is a small edit to the wrapper.
Why QuickBooks turns away a valid QFX download
QuickBooks turns away a valid QFX file because it checks the file's institution identity, and a QFX file carries the identity Quicken expects. The file is not damaged. QuickBooks simply does not recognise it as one meant for QuickBooks, so Desktop may refuse it or show an error about the financial institution.
QuickBooks is checking two things:
- That the bank is one it knows. The file must carry a bank ID that matches a financial institution on Intuit's list for QuickBooks.
- That the file is shaped like a Web Connect file. The signon section has to contain the lines QuickBooks looks for.
A bank's QFX file is made for the Quicken list. It may have a Quicken-style identity and may lack the QuickBooks one. That is why the same bank can offer a download that works in Quicken and fails in QuickBooks.
Behaviour varies by product. Intuit's guide to fixing Web Connect import errors in QuickBooks Desktop says a .qbo file is the only type Web Connect can read, so Desktop is where a QFX gets refused. Intuit's page on uploading transactions manually to QuickBooks Online lists QFX among the files Online accepts, so in Online a QFX may go in unchanged; try it there before you convert. The homepage of this site notes that its own files are designed for the QuickBooks Online upload, and that QBO is the type Desktop opens.
Before you convert, rule out the simpler causes:
- Wrong file in the wrong place. Make sure you are importing the bank file into the bank import, not the list import.
- A damaged download. Open the file in a text editor. It should show readable tags.
- The wrong account type. A savings file imported into a credit card account will cause trouble.
- Your bank offers a QuickBooks download. Check the bank's download page for a QBO or Web Connect option before you convert anything. A file straight from the bank beats a converted one.
The bank ID line is the usual culprit. The bank ID line in QBO files explains why QuickBooks is so strict about it.
The intu.bid header a QFX to QBO converter changes
The converter changes the INTU.BID line, which holds the bank ID that QuickBooks checks. It sets this to a value QuickBooks accepts, and may adjust a related line or two. The transactions are left untouched. That one line is the difference between a file QuickBooks refuses and one it opens.
Below are the lines near the top of a QFX file, and the same lines after conversion. The values are examples only.
Before, in the QFX file:
<SIGNONMSGSRSV1><SONRS>
<STATUS><CODE>0<SEVERITY>INFO</STATUS>
<DTSERVER>20260331120000
<LANGUAGE>ENG
<FI><ORG>Example Bank<FID>99999</FI>
<INTU.BID>99999
</SONRS></SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
After, in the QBO file:
<SIGNONMSGSRSV1><SONRS>
<STATUS><CODE>0<SEVERITY>INFO</STATUS>
<DTSERVER>20260331120000
<LANGUAGE>ENG
<FI><ORG>Example Bank<FID>99999</FI>
<INTU.BID>3000
</SONRS></SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
The one changed line is <INTU.BID>. In this example it moves from 99999 to 3000. Both numbers are placeholders. A real converter chooses a number that QuickBooks accepts, and tools differ in how they choose it, so ask a tool what it writes and why.
What a converter should leave alone
- DTPOSTED, TRNAMT, NAME, MEMO and FITID in each transaction. These are your data.
- The account block, with its routing number, account number and account type.
- The balance and date range.
If a converter changes any of those, it is doing more than a header edit, and you should look at the result closely.
Doing it by hand
You can make this edit yourself in a plain text editor, and then save the file with a .qbo extension. Keep a copy of the original first. Do not use a word processor, which can add formatting or change the line endings. A converter saves you from typos and from picking an unsuitable ID, which is the reason to use one if you have more than a file or two.
The product tied to this post: SimpleBankConvert makes QBO files from PDF statements. It does not take QFX files as input. See the homepage for what it handles today.
Testing the converted QBO in a spare bank account
Testing means importing the converted file into a throwaway bank account before it touches your real one. If something is off, you delete the spare account and lose nothing. It takes a few minutes and protects your reconciled books.
Do this in order:
- Make a spare account. In QuickBooks, add a new bank account with a name like "TEST QFX import". In Desktop, you can also work in a copy of your company file.
- Back up the original QFX file. Never convert the only copy.
- Convert the file. Save the new .qbo file under a different name from the original.
- Read it in a text editor. Confirm the transaction tags are intact and the INTU.BID line holds a number.
- Import it into the spare account. Link it to the TEST account when asked.
- Compare. Count the transactions and compare them to the bank's own list. Check three dates and three amounts by hand. Check the total against the bank's total for the same period.
- Check the signs. Money out should be negative and money in positive.
- Delete the spare account's transactions, or the account, when you are satisfied.
- Import into the real account. Use the same steps and link it to the real account.
If the import fails in the spare account, you have learnt something with no cost. If it succeeds but shows the wrong dates or amounts, the problem is in the source, not in the conversion.
Keep the original QFX after a successful import. If a later download from the same bank behaves differently, you can compare the two headers line by line and see what changed. A bank that redesigns its export can shift a line, and a saved original makes that easy to prove.
One further point: link a converted file to the right account the first time. In Desktop, the first link between a file and an account is remembered, and fixing a wrong one is awkward. The spare account is the place to get it right. Desktop steps are in importing bank transactions into QuickBooks Desktop.
Does an OFX file need the same QBO conversion?
Often yes. An OFX file is the open standard version, so it carries no Intuit bank ID at all, and QuickBooks Desktop may refuse it for the same reason as a QFX. The same header edit, adding a bank ID QuickBooks accepts, is what an OFX to QBO converter does.
There is a small difference in effort. A QFX file already has Intuit's style of lines, so the edit is a change. An OFX file may need the INTU.BID line added, as well as set. The transactions inside are in the same form either way.
Check these before you convert an OFX:
- Does your bank offer a QBO download? Banks that give you OFX often give a QuickBooks option elsewhere on the same page.
- Is the OFX file text? Open it. Some OFX files are older SGML-style text and others are XML. A converter should accept both, but test.
- Where are you importing? If your goal is Xero, no QBO step is needed. Check what Xero's statement import takes, as covered in importing a bank statement into Xero.
If you work from a spreadsheet, not a bank file, a related post covers making a QFX from a CSV, and it explains why QFX is the wrong target for QuickBooks. For a QBO file that you only need to print or share, see turning a QBO into a printable report.