How to import bank statements into QuickBooks Desktop

Before you start

• Back up your company file. Intuit says you can’t undo an import.
• Sign in to your Intuit account inside QuickBooks Desktop. Without it, the import can stop with a request to sign in.
• Web Connect needs a version of QuickBooks Desktop that Intuit still supports. If the menu item is missing, check your version first.
• Your statement needs real text in it. Scanned pages are not supported yet; OCR is coming soon.

Convert the PDF to a QBO file

1. 01Open the converter and drop in your PDF statement. It is read in your browser and not uploaded. Open a sample statement first if you want to see how it works.
2. 02Look at the balance check. It compares the statement’s printed opening and closing balances with the rows it read. If it shows a difference, fix or add the missing rows before you export.
3. 03Choose QBO in the export bar.
4. 04Pick the account type (checking, savings or money market). Credit card statements are written as card statements automatically. The account number is optional; the last 4 digits are enough.
5. 05Leave Bank ID at 3000 unless you know you need another.
6. 06Download the file. Keep the file name or rename it; the name doesn’t matter to the import.

Import the file

1. 01Back up the company file.
2. 02Choose Banking, then Bank Feeds, then Import Web Connect Files. In some versions the same command is under File, Utilities, Import, Web Connect Files.
3. 03Select the .qbo file and open it.
4. 04When QuickBooks asks which account the transactions belong to, pick an existing account, or create a new one. Check that a bank file goes to a bank account and a card file to a credit card account.
5. 05Open the Bank Feeds Center and review the transactions. Add each one to the register, or match it to something you have already entered.

Common errors and fixes

The file is from a bank that isn’t supported

QuickBooks reads the bank ID, INTU.BID, in the file. Export again with a different Bank ID in the export options, or copy the number from a .qbo file your bank gave you (open it in a text editor and look for the INTU.BID line). Don’t edit and save our file yourself.

“QuickBooks is unable to verify the Financial Institution information for this download”

Intuit’s general steps for Web Connect errors apply. Export a fresh file. Switch Bank Feeds to Classic mode (Banking, Bank Feeds, Change Bank Feeds Mode). If it still fails, import the file into a new test company. If it imports there, the problem is in the original company file’s bank connection, not the QBO file.

“To download and import transactions, sign in with your Intuit account”

Sign in to your Intuit account inside QuickBooks Desktop and try again. If you are already signed in, Intuit says to switch the Bank Feeds mode.

“QuickBooks found an error. We can’t read the file”

Export the file again and import the fresh copy. Don’t open it in Excel or a text editor and save it first.

Duplicate transactions

Every transaction in our file keeps the same ID each time you export the same statement, so importing the same file again shouldn’t add repeats. Duplicates usually come from statements that overlap, or from transactions you already typed in. Match those in the Bank Feeds Center instead of adding them.