How to convert CSV to QBO
- 1
Drop the CSV and check the columns
Date, description, amount or debit/credit and balance are detected for you. Change any column, the date order or reversed signs.
- 2
Review the transactions
Edit a date, a payee or an amount, flip a sign or delete a line before converting.
- 3
Download the QBO
Add the Intuit bank ID in Export settings if your QuickBooks or Quicken asks for one, then import it as a Web Connect file.
When you need QBO instead of CSV
QuickBooks Online can read some CSVs directly, but its upload is fussy about layout, and QuickBooks Desktop’s bank feeds take Web Connect (.qbo) files rather than CSV. A .qbo file also carries an ID per transaction, so re-importing doesn’t create duplicates.
Columns it recognises
Date, Posting Date or Transaction Date; Description, Payee, Name or Details; Amount; Debit, Withdrawal or Paid out and Credit, Deposit or Paid in; Balance or Running Bal.; Check or Ref number. Files without a header row work too: the columns are guessed from what’s in them.
The Intuit bank ID (INTU.BID)
A .qbo file names the bank it came from with Intuit’s bank ID. QuickBooks Desktop checks that ID against Intuit’s list of banks and may refuse a file whose ID it doesn’t recognise. If you have any older .qbo or .qfx file from the same bank, open it in a text editor and copy the number after <INTU.BID> into the export settings. When the file you convert already has an ID, it’s kept. QuickBooks Online is less strict, and its CSV upload needs no ID at all.
The formats
- CSV
- Comma-separated values: a plain-text table that every bank, spreadsheet and accounting app can read. Banks’ CSVs differ in column names, date order and whether money out is negative or in its own column.
- QBO
- QuickBooks Web Connect. A .qbo file is an OFX bank download that also carries Intuit’s ID for the bank (INTU.BID). QuickBooks Desktop imports it under File › Utilities › Import › Web Connect Files; QuickBooks Online takes it in its Upload transactions screen.