Banktivity Import: Convert PDF Bank Statements to OFX and CSV

How do I import transactions into Banktivity?

In Banktivity for Mac, choose File, Import Transactions, click Import File, select an OFX, QFX, QIF, QMTF or CSV file, and confirm the account in the import into menu. Banktivity adds the transactions as cleared, screens out duplicates and applies your import rules. PDF is not one of the formats it reads. When the months you need only exist as PDF statements, convert them to OFX with the upload box on this page, then import the OFX the same way you would a bank download.

The usual reason people need this is Banktivity Direct itself. Banktivity's support site says direct access typically downloads a 30 to 90 day window, and the bank decides which. If you just moved from Quicken, set up a new document for a small business, or need last year complete for your accountant, everything before that window has to come from files. Many banks stopped offering OFX or QFX downloads for older months, and closed accounts often have nothing but PDF statements left.

What file formats does Banktivity import?

Banktivity imports QMTF, QFX, OFX, QIF and CSV. Its own guidance is to pick OFX, QIF or QFX whenever one is available, because they carry the most complete transaction data, and to use CSV only as a last resort. It also cannot import investment data from a CSV. Here is how the files you are probably holding line up.

OFX is the easiest of the lot because the fields arrive already typed. Dates are in one fixed format, amounts carry their sign, and every transaction has a unique ID. There is no column labeling step and no question about whether 03/04 means March or April. That is why converting a PDF to OFX, rather than to CSV, is the route we recommend for anything you will import without editing first.

How do I import a PDF bank statement into Banktivity?

Convert the PDF to OFX, then import the OFX through File, Import Transactions. The converter reads the transaction table on every page, scanned statements included, and writes one OFX file per statement with the posting date, signed amount, description and a stable transaction ID on each line. The routine below keeps a full year clean.

1. Upload one statement month with the box at the top of this page. Checking, savings, money market and credit card statements all work, digital or scanned.
2. Check the extracted rows against the PDF (dates, amounts, signs), then download the result as OFX.
3. In Banktivity for Mac, select the account in the sidebar and choose File, Import Transactions, then click Import File and pick the .ofx.
4. Look at the import into menu at the top of the import window and make sure it shows the right account. Change it if it does not.
5. Finish the import. Banktivity marks the new transactions cleared, screens out duplicates, matches transfers between your accounts and runs your import rules to assign payees and categories.
6. Compare the account balance on the statement end date with the closing balance printed on the PDF. When the two agree, move on to the next month.

Importing a month at a time is quicker than it sounds. Each file is small enough to eyeball, and the balance check catches problems while they are still easy to find. A difference equal to one transaction means a line is missing; a difference of twice an amount means a sign came in reversed. Fix it in the register, then import the next statement.

Banktivity import CSV: when a spreadsheet makes sense

CSV import works in Banktivity; it just adds a step. When you pick a CSV file, Banktivity asks you to assign a label to each column. Some banks put withdrawals and deposits in two columns, which you label Withdrawal and Deposit; others use one signed column labeled Amount. If the dates in the file are ambiguous, Banktivity asks which date format to use. Commas and semicolons both work as delimiters.

That extra step is worth it when you want to change the data before it lands in your document: split a large deposit, fix payee names in bulk, or delete transfers you already recorded on the other side. Download the same statement as CSV, clean it in Numbers or Excel, then import. Our PDF bank statement to CSV converter writes a header row with a single Amount column by default, or separate Debit and Credit columns if you switch that option on, which line up with Banktivity's Amount or Withdrawal and Deposit labels. For anything you will import as is, OFX is less work.

Which route should you use for older history?

Most people end up using two routes. Banktivity Direct keeps the account current from today forward, and converted PDF statements fill in everything before its window. The OFX files you create do not depend on any subscription, so you build the back history once, keep the files, and never repeat the job.

What the converted OFX file contains

Each export is an OFX 1.02 file with a statement header, the account number and account type read from the statement, and one STMTTRN block per transaction holding TRNTYPE, DTPOSTED, TRNAMT, FITID and the payee text. Credit card statements are written as a card statement rather than a bank statement, so charges and payments land on the right side of a liability account. When the PDF prints a closing balance, it goes into LEDGERBAL, which gives you the number to reconcile against.

Converting the same statement twice produces the same transaction IDs. If you import a month, notice you uploaded the wrong page range and convert again, the second file carries the same IDs as the first, so nothing is invented in between.

Importing on iPhone and iPad

Banktivity on iOS imports QIF, QFX, OFX and CSV files too. Save the OFX to iCloud Drive or email it to yourself, then tap the file in the Files app or Mail, or use the share button, and send it to Banktivity. If a document is open, Banktivity asks which account the data belongs to; if not, an Import Available button waits under the account list the next time you open one. The conversion itself runs in any browser, so you can convert on a Mac and import on an iPad.

Moving to Banktivity from Quicken

Banktivity brings in Quicken history through QIF or through its import from other software option when you create a document. That covers the years Quicken already held. The gap is usually the months after your last Quicken export, or accounts you never tracked. Convert those statements to OFX and import them after the old history is in. If you are still weighing Quicken for Mac against the alternatives, our guide to importing PDF statements into Quicken for Mac shows what the same job looks like there, and the Moneydance import converter covers the cross-platform option.

How much does it cost to convert a year of statements?

The demo converts up to 15 pages with no credit card, enough to run one or two statements through Banktivity end to end. A year of a typical checking account is 12 statements of 2 to 6 pages each, well inside the Starter plan at $49 a month (2,500 pages a month on the faster AI model, up to 25 pages per statement). Cancel after the month if the backlog is done. Bookkeepers catching up several clients, or anyone with statements over 25 pages, will want Plus for bulk upload of up to 50 files at once. See pricing for current plans.

For comparison, Banktivity itself runs $6.99 to $10.99 a month billed annually depending on the plan. One month of conversion to load years of history is a small fraction of what a year of the app costs, and far less than an afternoon of typing a business account line by line.