How to Import a QIF File into QuickBooks (Online and Desktop)
You have a .qif file — exported from an old version of Quicken, Microsoft Money, a banking app or a bank that still offers the format — and QuickBooks will not take it. That is expected: current versions of QuickBooks do not import QIF files as bank transactions. The fix is to convert the QIF file into a format QuickBooks does accept.
What is a QIF file?
QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) is a plain-text format from the early days of personal finance software. Each transaction is a few lines that start with a letter code, ending with ^:
!Type:Bank
D10/01/2026
T-54.20
PStaples
MPrinter paper
^D is the date, T the amount, P the payee, M the memo and N the check number. Quicken replaced QIF with QFX (Web Connect) long ago, and QuickBooks uses QBO, both based on OFX. Unlike those formats, QIF has no account information and no unique transaction IDs, which is one reason it is no longer supported for bank imports.
Which formats QuickBooks accepts instead
- QuickBooks Online: CSV, QBO, QFX, OFX and TXT under Banking → Upload from file.
- QuickBooks Desktop: QBO (Web Connect) files under File → Utilities → Import → Web Connect Files.
So the goal is to turn your QIF into QBO (works in both) or CSV (QuickBooks Online only).
Convert QIF to QBO in three steps
- Open the QIF to QBO converter and drop your
.qiffile. It reads bank, cash and credit card QIF files (!Type:Bank,!Type:Cash,!Type:CCard). - Check the preview. If day and month look swapped (common with files from outside the US), switch the date order to DD/MM. Money out should be negative.
- Choose QBO and the account type, then download. Import it as described above.
The converter runs in your browser — the QIF file is never uploaded — and gives every transaction a stable ID, so importing the same file twice will not create duplicates.
Things to check in old QIF files
- Two-digit years and apostrophes. Old Quicken exports write dates like
10/01'26. The converter understands this, but scan the date range in the preview. - Split transactions. QIF can contain splits (
S,$lines). Bank imports in QuickBooks take the transaction total; you categorise splits during review. - Several accounts in one file. A Quicken export can contain multiple accounts. Convert and import them one account at a time — export each account separately from Quicken if you can.
- Investment transactions (
!Type:Invst) are not bank transactions and are skipped.
Prefer CSV?
If you only use QuickBooks Online and want to edit the data first, convert to CSV instead: choose CSV as the output in the same converter, adjust the spreadsheet, then upload it (CSV import guide).