Convert a PDF bank statement to QIF

Quick answer

QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) is a plain-text list of transactions that older and open-source finance programs still import. QuickBankConvert reads a PDF bank statement and writes one QIF record per transaction: date, amount, payee and category. Because QIF has no way to say whether a date is day-first or month-first, you choose the order at download. QIF export is part of Plus ($29 a month) and the plans above it.

What a QIF file looks like

QIF is simple enough to read by eye. Each line starts with a one-letter code, and a caret ends the record:

!Type:Bank
D06/14/2026
T-84.12
PAT&T WIRELESS
LUtilities
^
D06/25/2026
T2500.00
PPAYROLL ACME CORP
LIncome
^

The date order is the part that goes wrong

A QIF file contains nothing that says how to read 03/04/2026. The importing program applies its own regional setting: a US-configured program reads 4 March, a UK-configured one reads 3 April. When the file and the program disagree, some rows are rejected (there is no month 25) and the rest import silently on the wrong day, which is worse.

So the download screen has a date order selector:

• MM/DD/YYYY for programs set to US dates.
• DD/MM/YYYY for programs set to UK, Australian, New Zealand or most European dates.

It starts on your browser's regional order and, if you are signed in, your choice is remembered. Pick the order of the program you are importing into, not the order printed on the statement. After importing, check one transaction dated after the 12th and one dated on or before the 12th.

The file checker reads a QIF in your browser and tells you whether its dates are provably day-first, provably month-first, or ambiguous.

How to convert

1. Download the statement PDF from online banking. A PDF generated by the bank converts more accurately than a scan.
2. Upload it to the converter. It is sent over HTTPS and parsed on our servers. A password-protected PDF prompts for its password.
3. Check the preview against the statement: first row, last row and closing balance.
4. Set the date order next to the download buttons.
5. Download QIF (Plus, Pro and Business) and import it using your program's QIF import.

Where QIF imports, and where it does not

• Xero lists QIF among the formats it imports, alongside OFX, QFX, QuickBooks and CSV, in About manually importing bank statements, and asks you to choose a date format when prompted. For Xero we suggest the CSV route in the Xero guide instead.
• QuickBooks does not list it. Intuit's upload instructions for QuickBooks Online name QBO, QFX and CSV, and QuickBooks Desktop's Web Connect reads only .qbo. Use QBO or CSV.
• Quicken, GnuCash and other personal finance programs are what the format was designed around. QIF support varies by program, version and account type, and we cannot test them all: check your program's import documentation, and try one statement before converting a year.

What QIF cannot carry

• No transaction IDs. Nothing identifies a transaction, so importing the same file twice creates everything twice. Keep track of which periods you have imported.
• No date-format marker, as above.
• No currency and no balance. The file is a list of amounts. Compare the balance in your program with the statement's closing balance after importing.
• No account number. You choose the account when importing.

And three limits of our export specifically:

• The header is always !Type:Bank, including for credit card statements. If your program needs !Type:CCard for a card account, change the first line in a text editor.
• One account per file. A combined statement covering several accounts becomes one list.
• Cheque numbers and memos are not written. Only the date, amount, payee and category lines.

QIF or something else?

What we accept as input: PDF statements and .ofx files. A .qif or .qfx file is not accepted, so this is not a QIF-to-QBO or QFX-to-QIF converter.

Plans and limits

• Free account: CSV and Excel only. 3 statements a month, 10 pages each.
• Plus, $29 a month: QIF, QBO, Xero CSV, TSV and JSON. 50 statements a month, 50 pages per statement.
• Pro, $59 a month: adds batch upload and client labels. 200 statements a month, 100 pages per statement.
• Business, $99 a month: everything in Pro. 600 statements a month, 100 pages per statement.

See pricing. Refunds are available within 7 days of the first subscription payment under the refund policy.

Privacy

The statement is uploaded over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection and parsed on our servers, and a copy is stored; ask us to delete it through the contact page. No bank login is involved. See the Privacy Policy.

Related guides

• QBO, OFX and QIF file checker
• PDF bank statement to QBO
• Import a PDF bank statement into QuickBooks
• Import a PDF bank statement into Xero
• All export formats