How Bank2OFX Simplifies Your Financial Data Import

Bank2OFX: Step-by-Step Conversion for Quicken & Money SoftwareBank2OFX converts bank/export files (CSV, QIF, or other formats) into OFX — the Open Financial Exchange format that Quicken, Microsoft Money (legacy), and many personal finance apps can import. This guide walks through why you’d use Bank2OFX, how the conversion works, step-by-step instructions, common pitfalls and fixes, and tips for smooth imports into Quicken and Money.

Why convert to OFX?

• OFX is widely supported by personal finance software (Quicken, Microsoft Money, GnuCash, and many online banking import features).
• OFX preserves transaction metadata (dates, amounts, payees, memos) in a structured way that reduces manual cleanup after import.
• Converting local/exported CSV or QIF files to OFX lets you import data from banks that don’t provide OFX downloads.

Before you start: prerequisites and preparations

• Obtain the bank/export file you’ll convert (commonly CSV, QIF, or other text formats).
• Back up your Quicken or Money data file before importing.
• Install Bank2OFX (or use an online converter) and ensure you have appropriate license/permissions if the tool is paid software.
• Identify the account type (checking, savings, credit card) and currency used in the export.
• Familiarize yourself with the file’s column order (date, payee, amount, description, balance, etc.) so you can map fields correctly.

Step-by-step conversion process

1. Open Bank2OFX

   • Launch the application or open the web converter interface. Confirm you have the latest version for best compatibility.

2. Create or select a new conversion profile

   • Most conversion tools let you create a profile that saves settings (date format, delimiter, columns mapping). Name this profile to reuse for future conversions from the same bank.

3. Load your source file

   • Click “Open,” “Load,” or “Browse” and select the CSV/QIF file exported from your bank. The tool will display a preview of rows and columns.

4. Choose the source format and encoding

   • Select CSV, QIF, or the appropriate format. Confirm text encoding (UTF-8 is typical) if non-ASCII characters appear incorrectly.

5. Map columns to OFX fields

   • Map source columns to OFX fields: date → TRNTYPE/DTPOSTED, amount → TRNAMT, payee → NAME/NAME, memo/description → MEMO.
   • For credits and debits, ensure amounts include signs or set rules (e.g., negative values for debits).

6. Set date and number formats

   • Configure date parsing (MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD) and decimal separators (dot or comma). Incorrect settings are a common cause of wrong dates or amounts.

7. Configure account details

   • Enter account number, account type (CHECKING, SAVINGS, CREDITCARD), bank routing ID (if required), and currency. These values are embedded in the OFX header to help Quicken/Money match imports to an account.

8. Review and clean data (optional but recommended)

   • Inspect preview rows for anomalies: missing dates, combined memo fields, or malformed amounts. Use built-in find/replace, column splitting, or scripting hooks if available to fix issues.

9. Generate the OFX file

   • Click “Convert,” “Export,” or “Save as OFX.” Choose an output folder and filename. Some tools allow saving a test output for a small subset of rows.

10. Validate the OFX (optional)

    • Open the generated OFX in a text editor to verify header tags, date formatting, and that transactions appear in SGML/XML-like structure. You can also use OFX validators or import into a disposable test account in Quicken/Money.

11. Import the OFX into Quicken or Microsoft Money

    • Quicken: File → File Import → Web Connect (.OFX) or File → Import → Web Connect File; select the OFX file and follow prompts to match to an account.
    • Microsoft Money (legacy): File → Get External Data → Web Connect (or import OFX) and follow matching steps. For Money Plus, use the supported import workflow and make sure account types match.

12. Reconcile and review

    • After import, review transactions in Quicken/Money. Match or categorize payees, fix split transactions, and reconcile balances. If duplicates appear, use the software’s duplicate detection or undo import and re-adjust mapping rules.

Common problems and fixes

• Dates shifted or wrong year

  • Check date format mapping; some tools assume US format (MM/DD) by default. Ensure day/month order matches source.

• Amounts show reversed signs (credits/debits flipped)

  • Toggle “invert sign” or set rules based on a credit/debit column. Confirm negative values are used correctly.

• Quicken doesn’t match account or refuses file

  • Ensure OFX account type and account number match the target account in Quicken. Use a new empty account for test imports.

• Special characters garbled

  • Use UTF-8 encoding on export and conversion. If the bank export uses another encoding (Windows-1251, ISO-8859-1), set that during import.

• Duplicate transactions

  • Quicken identifies duplicates by unique fitid (transaction ID) and amount/date. Ensure the converter generates a stable unique fitid per transaction.

Tips for smoother imports

• Create reusable conversion profiles per bank to avoid remapping every time.
• Generate fitid values using a deterministic rule (e.g., hash of date+amount+payee) so repeat imports don’t produce duplicates.
• If your bank provides QFX instead of OFX, QFX includes bank-specific headers — Quicken sometimes enforces bank IDs for QFX. Use OFX if you prefer looser matching.
• For large histories, split into multiple OFX files to avoid import timeouts or application slowdowns.

Alternatives and additional tools

• Many apps and scripts can convert CSV→OFX: open-source scripts (Python libraries like ofxparse/ofxtools), paid GUI converters, or bank-provided export options.
• If you’re comfortable scripting, a small Python script using ofxtools can automate mapping and fitid generation across many accounts.

Quick checklist before import

• Backup Quicken/Money file.
• Confirm date and number formats.
• Map columns and set account details.
• Generate deterministic fitid values.
• Test import into an empty/test account first.

Bank2OFX (or equivalent converters) bridge the gap when banks don’t offer OFX directly. With careful mapping, encoding, and fitid handling, you can import clean transaction histories into Quicken and Microsoft Money with minimal manual cleanup.