How to Import Bank Transactions Into QuickBooks Online

Quick Answer: In QuickBooks Online go to All apps > Accounting > Bank transactions, open the Link account menu and choose Upload from file. Select a CSV, TXT, QBO or OFX file of 350 KB or less with no more than 1,000 transactions, pick the QuickBooks account, map the columns, choose the lines to import and confirm. The transactions then wait in the review list until you match or categorize them.

QuickBooks Online accepts a bank file through its manual upload screen whenever a live bank connection is missing, broken or does not reach back far enough. The upload itself takes a minute. What decides whether it works is the file: the right type, under the size and line limits, and for CSV files, a column layout QuickBooks can map.

Which files can QuickBooks Online import?

Intuit's manual upload instructions list four file types and three limits:

A .qbo or .ofx file carries its own structure, so there is nothing to map; QuickBooks reads dates, amounts and payee names directly. A CSV is a plain table and needs the mapping step. If your bank offers a "QuickBooks" or "Web Connect" download, that .qbo file is usually the least troublesome choice. If it offers only CSV, that works too, with the preparation below.

Note that Excel workbooks (.xlsx) are not on the list for this screen. Save the sheet as CSV first.

How should a CSV be laid out for the bank upload?

Choose one of the two layouts and stick to it for the whole file.

3-column layout, one signed amount:

4-column layout, separate credit and debit:

Intuit's formatting guidance for these files:

• Remove the word "amount" from Credit and Debit column headings.
• Leave cells blank rather than entering 0 in Amount, Credit or Debit.
• Remove numbers from the Description cells. (In practice, reference numbers in descriptions are the usual reason a bank rule fails to match, so this helps later too.)
• Use one date format for every row; Intuit's page recommends dd/mm/yyyy. Whatever you use, you will tell QuickBooks the format during mapping.
• If the bank puts the day of the week in the date cell, split it into its own column.

Other things that trip up bank CSVs: a title block or account summary above the header row, a totals row at the bottom, currency symbols, and amounts in parentheses for negatives. Delete the extra rows and make the amounts plain numbers.

How do you upload the file, step by step?

1. Go to All apps > Accounting > Bank transactions.
2. Select the account tile you want to add transactions to, or choose Upload transactions.
3. Open the Link account dropdown and select Upload from file.
4. Choose Drag and drop or select files and pick your file.
5. In Select account, choose the QuickBooks bank or credit card account the transactions belong to.
6. Map the file's columns to QuickBooks fields: Date (with its format), Description and either Amount or Credit and Debit. With a single Amount column, check the preview so withdrawals come through as money out, not deposits.
7. Select the transactions to import. Untick any that are already in QuickBooks.
8. Confirm with Yes, then select Done.

These are the steps from Intuit's page, which also reminds you to match, categorize and reconcile the imported lines afterward.

What happens after the upload?

Imported lines do not post to your books immediately. They go to the bank transactions review list (the Pending tab in Intuit's current categorization article). For each line, you can:

• Post it with the suggested category, or change the category first;
• Add it with your own details, such as a vendor and a split across accounts;
• Match it to a transaction already in QuickBooks, such as an invoice payment, a bill payment or an expense you entered by hand.

Matching matters. If you entered a check manually last week and then upload the bank file containing it, choosing Add instead of Match records the check twice.

Bank rules apply to uploaded files as well as live feeds. Intuit's bank rules page notes that auto-post rules run when you upload a file, so a well-built rule set does part of the review for you.

What if your bank only gives you PDF statements?

The upload screen does not read PDFs. You have three routes:

• Check online banking again. Most banks offer CSV, and some offer QBO, for at least the last few months. This is the free route and the best one when it exists.
• Retype short periods. A dozen transactions can go straight into a CSV template.
• Convert the statement. For older months or long statements, a converter turns the PDF into an importable file. QuickBankConvert reads the statement and produces CSV on every account, or a QBO file on the Plus plan and above; you then upload that file through the same screen. Run it through the QBO file checker first if you want to confirm the file is well formed before QuickBooks sees it. The QuickBooks integration page describes the file it produces.

A long statement may exceed 1,000 lines or 350 KB. Split it by date into two or more files and upload them one after another.

When is a file upload better than a bank connection?

A connected bank feed is less work day to day, so use one where your bank supports it. A manual upload is the better tool in a few specific situations:

• Catching up history. A new connection only reaches back as far as your bank allows. Earlier months for a first-year setup, or a cleanup of an old year, come in by file.
• Accounts with no feed. Some smaller banks, foreign accounts, trust accounts and certain card programs do not connect at all.
• A broken or paused connection. If the feed stopped for three weeks, upload just the missing dates instead of disconnecting and reconnecting, which can bring in duplicates.
• Accountant cleanup work. When you work from statements the client sent, an upload lets you post exactly the statement period you are reconciling.

Before uploading into an account that also has a feed, note the last date the feed delivered and trim your file to start the day after.

Troubleshooting a failed upload

For the bigger picture, including getting a file out of a PDF statement and choosing between QuickBooks Online and Desktop methods, read importing bank statements into QuickBooks. If you are building your CSV by hand, the Excel template for QuickBooks import lays out both column formats with header names and date examples.

Related guides

• QuickBooks bank import, Online and Desktop
• Spreadsheet layouts QuickBooks will map
• Validate a .qbo file before you upload it
• Converting a statement PDF to a QBO file