What is a QIF file?
By the Banking Converter editorial team
Published
A QIF file is a plain-text transaction list in Quicken Interchange Format, the format Quicken used before OFX. Each transaction is a group of lines beginning with a letter code (D for date, T for amount, P for payee) and ending with a caret. QIF carries no transaction ids, no account numbers and no defined date format, so it is easy to read but prone to duplicate imports and date misinterpretation. Most modern software prefers OFX, QFX, QBO or CSV.
What a QIF file looks like
!Type:Bank
D08/02/2026
T2500.00
PPayroll deposit ACME Design LLC
^
D08/03/2026
T-84.17
PCard purchase Fresh Market #214
MCard ending 4471
^
D08/05/2026
T-1200.00
N1042
PCheck 1042
^| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| !Type: | Account type header: Bank, CCard, Cash, Oth A, Oth L, Invst |
| D | Date, in whatever format the exporting program used |
| T (or U) | Amount, positive in, negative out |
| P | Payee |
| M | Memo |
| N | Check or reference number |
| L | Category or transfer account in square brackets |
| C | Cleared status |
| ^ | End of the transaction |
Why QIF causes problems
- No transaction id: importers cannot tell a re-imported transaction from a new one, so overlapping imports duplicate rows.
- No account identifier: the file does not say which account it belongs to; you choose at import time.
- Undefined date format:
D08/02/2026might be 2 August or 8 February. Programs guess from the locale. - No balance: nothing in the file lets the importer verify completeness.
- Quicken for Windows stopped importing QIF into bank and card accounts in 2005 (some account types still accept it); Quicken for Mac and several other tools still read it.
What to use instead
For Quicken use QFX where the bank supports it, or OFX on Mac; for QuickBooks use QBO; for everything else OFX or CSV. See what is an OFX file, what is a QFX file and CSV vs QBO. If a legacy program only accepts QIF, convert the statement to CSV first and use one of the many small CSV-to-QIF utilities, keeping the date format unambiguous.
Frequently asked questions
Do you export QIF?
Not at present. The exporter interface allows additional formats to be added, and QIF is on the list of candidates; CSV, Excel, JSON, OFX and QBO are available today.
Can Excel open a QIF file?
Only as text. Because each field is on its own line, it does not become a table without a script. Convert the original statement to CSV or Excel instead.
Other bank statement converters
About the author
The Banking Converter editorial team is the engineering group that builds and tests the conversion engine: the parsers for regional date and number formats, the reconciliation checks and the CSV, Excel, JSON, OFX and QBO exporters. Guides describe what the software does and what the formats require; they are not financial, legal or tax advice.