The four formats at a glance
| QBO | QFX | OFX | QIF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | QuickBooks Web Connect file | Quicken Web Connect file | Open Financial Exchange | Quicken Interchange Format |
| Made for | QuickBooks | Quicken | Many money apps | Quicken (older versions) and other apps |
| Structure | OFX statement + Intuit bank ID | OFX statement + bank (FI) block + Intuit bank ID | Open standard: OFX 1.x tagged text or OFX 2.x XML | Plain text, one field per line, ^ ends a transaction |
| Account details | Bank ID, account number, type | Same as QBO | Same | Account type only |
| Transaction IDs | Yes (FITID) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Currency | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bank check on import | QuickBooks reads the bank ID | Quicken checks the bank online | Depends on the app | No |
QBO: for QuickBooks
QuickBooks Desktop’s Web Connect import reads .qbo files only, and Intuit says you sign in with an Intuit account to
import them. Intuit’s help for QuickBooks Online uploads recommends QBO files too. Inside, a QBO file is an OFX bank or
credit card statement with Intuit’s bank ID (INTU.BID) added.
QFX: for Quicken
Quicken calls importing QFX files Web Connect. A QFX file is also an OFX statement with a bank ID. Quicken checks the bank in each file online, needs an active subscription for it, and states that it does not support QFX files made by conversion software.
OFX: the open standard
OFX (Open Financial Exchange) is the open specification behind QBO and QFX, maintained by the OFX work group at the Financial Data Exchange. OFX 1.x is tagged text where data values don’t need closing tags; OFX 2.x is XML. A statement holds the account, the currency, every transaction with a type, date, amount, unique ID, name (up to 32 characters) and memo (up to 255), and the ledger balance.
QIF: the older plain-text format
QIF files start with a line such as !Type:Bank or !Type:CCard, then list each transaction as lines beginning
with a letter: D date, T amount, P payee, M memo, N number, L category, ending with ^. QIF has no
transaction IDs and no currency, and a file can’t say whether its dates are month-first or day-first. Quicken calls
QIF a legacy format; Quicken for Mac reads it only when you create a new data file.
Which format for which program
| Program | Use | Notes from the program’s own help |
|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Desktop (Windows or Mac) | QBO | Web Connect reads only .qbo files. |
| QuickBooks Online | QBO, or a CSV in its 3- or 4-column layout | Intuit suggests QBO; up to 1,000 lines and 350 KB per upload. |
| Quicken for Windows | QFX, or Quicken’s 10-column CSV | Quicken doesn’t support converter-made QFX files; its CSV import is the supported route. |
| Quicken for Mac | QFX | QIF only when starting a new data file; CSV only into a new account. |
| Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers | CSV or Excel | Excel files keep real dates and numbers. |
What each format keeps
| QBO, QFX, OFX | QIF | |
|---|---|---|
| Date, amount, payee, memo | Yes (payee up to 32 characters) | Yes |
| Check number | Yes | Yes |
| Category | No field for it | Yes, including splits |
| Account number and bank | Yes | No |
| Ending balance | Yes | No |
| Unique transaction ID | Yes | No |
So converting QIF to QFX or QBO drops categories (you categorize the transactions in Quicken or QuickBooks), and converting QBO, QFX or OFX to QIF drops the account number, the balance and the transaction IDs. Converting to CSV or Excel keeps every transaction field as a column, including categories when the source has them.
Why the bank ID matters
QBO and QFX files name the bank with Intuit’s bank ID, and QuickBooks and Quicken check it when you import. Intuit
publishes separate bank lists for QuickBooks and Quicken, and some banks have a different ID in each: Chase is
02430 in QuickBooks’ list and 10898 in Quicken’s. When a file has an ID the program doesn’t accept, the import
stops with a message such as QuickBooks’ “unable to verify the Financial Institution information for this
download”. The converter’s bank picker uses the QuickBooks list for QBO files and the Quicken list for QFX files.
Which one your bank offers
Each bank decides which download formats it offers, and Quicken staff note that some banks have stopped offering QFX files. Banks usually name the formats after the program: a “Quicken” or Web Connect download is a QFX file, a “QuickBooks” download is a QBO file, and Intuit’s own help calls OFX the Microsoft Money format. “Spreadsheet”, “comma delimited” or “Excel” downloads are CSV or Excel files, which the converter turns into any of the four.
Converting between them
Every combination works in the converter: drop in a QBO, QFX, OFX, QIF, CSV or Excel file and download any of the other formats. When you convert to QBO or QFX, choose the bank that should appear in QuickBooks or Quicken, because the two programs use separate bank ID lists.
Which to choose when your bank offers several
- For QuickBooks Desktop: QBO. It is the only file Web Connect imports.
- For QuickBooks Online: QBO, which Intuit’s help suggests for uploads, or a CSV in QuickBooks Online’s own layout if your bank only offers spreadsheets.
- For Quicken: QFX from your bank. If the bank has stopped offering QFX, Quicken’s own CSV import (Windows) is the supported route, or a converted QFX file.
- For another money app: OFX if the app reads it, otherwise QIF.
- For a spreadsheet: CSV or Excel, which any bank file can be turned into.