CSV vs QBO: which format should you import into your accounting software?

Side by side

When CSV is the better choice

• The destination is a spreadsheet, a script or accounting software other than QuickBooks or Quicken.
• You want to inspect or edit the data before importing.
• You do not have, or do not want to look up, the Intuit identifiers for your bank.
• The import is a one-off for a period no bank feed covers, so duplicate protection is not a concern.

The CSV converter writes three column profiles, with signs, delimiters and date formats you control.

When QBO (or OFX) is the better choice

• You use QuickBooks Desktop, which does not import CSV bank transactions natively.
• You import the same account repeatedly and want QuickBooks to skip transactions it already has.
• You want the closing balance and check numbers carried into the file without mapping.
• You are importing into Quicken, GnuCash or another OFX reader: use OFX or QFX instead of QBO.

The QBO converter requires you to provide the institution ids and produces deterministic FITIDs, so converting a corrected version of the same statement yields the same ids.

Pitfalls specific to each

• CSV: date ambiguity (MM/DD vs DD/MM), thousands separators inside amounts, inverted signs, and a 350 KB upload limit in QuickBooks Online.
• QBO: QuickBooks rejects files whose INTU.BID is not registered; a wrong id can also attach the transactions to the wrong account type. NAME is limited to 32 characters, so long descriptions continue in MEMO.
• OFX: some importers only accept the older SGML 1.x form; QBO is effectively that form with Intuit fields.