Convert Bank Statement to Quicken From PDF to CSV on Windows and Mac

Which file format should you import into Quicken?

For transactions that only exist in a PDF statement, use CSV. Quicken reads a bank issued Web Connect QFX when your bank offers one, but a real QFX has to come from the bank, because it carries an institution ID that Intuit assigns to participating banks. What you can build yourself from a statement is a CSV, and both Quicken for Windows and Quicken for Mac import CSV through their own menus. This converter exports CSV, Excel and OFX. The table below shows what each file does in Quicken.

OFX is still useful, just not for Quicken: it is the file for Microsoft Money, Xero and other software that reads OFX. For the side by side detail on the formats, see OFX vs QFX vs QBO.

How do I import a CSV into Quicken for Windows?

Open your data file and choose File, File Import, Banking Transactions, From (.CSV) File, then Choose .CSV File to Import and click OK. If the Account column names an account that does not exist yet, Quicken asks whether to ignore those rows, add them to an existing account, or create a new one. Pick your existing account. When the import finishes, Quicken shows how many transactions came in and which accounts and tags it created.

The file has to follow Quicken's layout exactly. Quicken's help article requires the first seven columns in a fixed order, even when some are empty, and a header row is optional but must follow the same order if you use one.

Two rules decide whether the import is clean. Dates must be mm/dd/yyyy, and any payee containing a comma has to sit inside double quotes. Quicken also creates no transfers from a CSV, even when the category holds a bracketed account name such as [Checking], so transfers between your own accounts arrive as ordinary transactions to recategorize.

Does a CSV import create duplicates in Quicken?

It can. Quicken's help article says CSV imports do not check for or match existing transactions, so every row in the file is added even if an identical one is already in the register. Web Connect downloads are matched, CSV imports are not. Before you import, find the last date Quicken already has for the account and cut the CSV to start the day after it. After the import, reconcile against the statement closing balance, which proves nothing was skipped or doubled.

Does this work with Quicken on Mac?

Yes, through a different CSV layout. Quicken for Mac imports CSV through File, Import, Mint.com File (CSV) and expects the Mint column names instead of the Windows ones, and it always creates a new account named after the file. You then drag the rows into your real account. Quicken's Mac article also says it cannot import PDF or OFX files. The full walkthrough, including the date format question Quicken's page leaves open, is on the Quicken for Mac CSV import page. If you use Quicken Simplifi instead, see the Simplifi import guide.

When should you convert statements instead of fixing the connection?

If your bank connection stopped downloading, fix that first, since the Quicken not downloading transactions page covers the usual causes. Convert statements when the history you need is older than the bank will serve, when the bank dropped Quicken support, when an account was closed, or when a client hands you paper. A year of checking statements is usually 36 to 120 pages. The first 15 pages are free to test, and Starter is $49 a month, or $24.50 a month billed annually, for up to 2,500 pages.