How to Convert PDF to OFX, QFX, and QIF (2026 Guide)

To convert PDF to OFX, QFX, or QIF, you need either a dedicated converter tool or a two-step workflow that extracts data to CSV first and then converts to your target format. OFX is the industry-standard XML format, QFX is Quicken's proprietary extension of OFX, and QIF is the older text-based predecessor.

This guide covers everything you need to make that conversion accurately:

Format definitions and technical differences between OFX, QFX, and QIF, including how they relate to each other
A software compatibility matrix showing exactly which accounting software accepts which format
An objective comparison of conversion methods, from dedicated PDF to QFX and PDF to QIF converters to two-step extraction workflows
Common pitfalls that cause failed imports, duplicate transactions, and data mismatches

Understanding what separates Open Financial Exchange from Quicken Interchange Format, and where QFX fits between them, is the first step to choosing a conversion path that actually works with your accounting software.

OFX, QFX, and QIF: What Each Format Is and How They Differ

Before selecting a conversion method, you need to understand what these three file formats actually are and how they relate to each other. The technical distinctions between them directly affect which tools you can use and how reliably your data imports.

OFX (Open Financial Exchange)

OFX is an XML-based financial data standard developed in the late 1990s by a consortium that included Microsoft, Intuit, and CheckFree. Each transaction is represented using structured XML tags that define the date, amount, payee, transaction type, and other metadata in a machine-readable hierarchy.

What makes OFX significant is its bidirectional capability: it supports both downloading transaction data from financial institutions and uploading data back. The XML structure enforces strict formatting rules, which means software parsing an OFX file can validate the data before importing it. This reduces errors during reconciliation and keeps data integrity intact across systems.

OFX became the dominant standard for financial data interchange because the industry needed a format that could handle the growing volume of electronic transactions. To put that scale in perspective, the ACH Network processed 35.2 billion payments valued at $93 trillion in 2025, with volume growing 4.9% and value increasing 7.9% year over year, according to Nacha's ACH Network volume and value statistics. Standardized interchange formats like OFX exist precisely because financial data at this scale demands structured, validated representation.

QFX (Quicken Financial Exchange)

QFX is not a separate standard. It is an OFX file with Quicken-specific header fields appended. The most critical of these is the INTU.BID field, which identifies the financial institution using Intuit's proprietary institution directory. Without this header, Quicken rejects the file on import, even if the underlying transaction data is perfectly valid OFX.

This distinction matters for anyone converting PDF bank statements: if your target software is Quicken, generating a standard OFX file is not enough. The file must include the correct Quicken-proprietary headers to be accepted. The .qfx file extension signals to Quicken that these headers are present.

QIF (Quicken Interchange Format)

QIF is the oldest of the three formats, originating in the early 1990s as Quicken's original data exchange format. Unlike OFX's XML structure, QIF uses a simple text-based format with single-character type indicators on each line: D for date, T for amount, P for payee, and so on. Each transaction record ends with a caret (^) delimiter.

Intuit officially deprecated QIF import in Quicken in 2005 to push users toward OFX-based bank feeds. However, QIF remains widely supported by other accounting and personal finance software, including older versions of QuickBooks Desktop, MYOB, Banktivity, YNAB, and several open-source tools. Its plain-text structure also makes it the easiest format to inspect and manually edit when troubleshooting import problems.

What This Means for Conversion

The practical takeaway: QIF holds basic transaction records (date, amount, payee) but lacks the structured metadata that OFX provides. QFX carries everything OFX does, plus the Intuit-specific headers that Quicken demands. When you convert a PDF bank statement, the target format determines how much transaction detail survives the conversion and which software will accept the output.

For more background on the data fields these formats represent, see our guide on understanding the fields on your bank statement.

Format Comparison

Feature	OFX	QFX	QIF
File extension	.ofx	.qfx	.qif
Data format	XML (structured, hierarchical)	XML (OFX with proprietary headers)	Plain text (line-based records)
Developer/origin	Microsoft, Intuit, CheckFree consortium	Intuit (proprietary extension of OFX)	Intuit (original Quicken format)
Current status	Active industry standard	Proprietary extension (active)	Deprecated by Intuit (2005), still widely used elsewhere
Key technical characteristic	Structured XML tags with data validation	INTU.BID header required for Quicken acceptance	Single-character type indicators (D, T, P)
Primary software support	QuickBooks, Sage, Xero, most modern accounting software	Quicken (all current versions)	MYOB, Banktivity, YNAB, older QuickBooks, many open-source tools
Pros	Broad compatibility, rich data structure, validation support	Direct Quicken acceptance, full OFX data richness	Simple to read and edit, wide legacy support, human-readable
Cons	Not accepted by Quicken without QFX headers	Locked to Intuit ecosystem, requires correct institution ID	No data validation, limited metadata, deprecated in Quicken

Knowing what each format is and how they differ gives you the technical foundation for making the right conversion choice. But format definitions alone are not enough. The next step is determining which specific format your accounting software actually requires for import.

Which Accounting Software Needs Which Format

The format you need depends entirely on which accounting or personal finance application you use. This is where most of the confusion starts. Someone searches for "convert PDF to OFX" when their software actually requires QFX, or they produce a perfectly valid OFX file only to discover their application rejects it because it expects a proprietary header. Knowing your target format before you begin saves hours of trial and error.

The following compatibility matrix covers the most widely used accounting and personal finance platforms:

Software	Accepted Formats	Preferred/Default Format	Notes
QuickBooks Desktop	OFX, QBO	QBO	QBO files are essentially OFX with QuickBooks-specific headers, similar to how QFX works for Quicken. Recent versions also accept standard OFX for Web Connect imports.
Quicken	QFX	QFX (required)	Standard OFX files are rejected without the INTU.BID header. You must use QFX or add the Intuit-specific header to an OFX file.
MYOB	QIF, OFX	QIF	QIF is the traditional import path and tends to be the most reliable option for MYOB users.
Banktivity (Mac)	QIF, OFX	OFX	Supports both formats for bank transaction import. OFX preserves richer metadata.
YNAB (You Need a Budget)	OFX, QFX, QIF	OFX	Accepts all three financial interchange formats, making it the most flexible option on this list.
Sage	OFX	OFX	Uses the standard OFX format for bank imports.
Xero	OFX	OFX	Also supports CSV, but OFX is cleaner for bank reconciliation because it carries transaction types and running balances.
FreshBooks	OFX	OFX	For bank transaction import via the standard format.

Several of these applications also accept CSV as a fallback import option. However, structured financial interchange formats like OFX, QFX, and QIF preserve transaction metadata, including transaction types, categories, check numbers, and running balances, that flat CSV files do not carry. Whenever possible, use the structured format your software supports.

Keep in mind that software vendors update import capabilities over time. Check your application's current import documentation to confirm which formats are accepted in your specific version, particularly if you are running an older release or a recently updated one.

For readers who want a deeper understanding of what bank statement data actually contains and how individual fields map to these interchange formats, our guide on bank statement fundamentals and components covers the foundational concepts.

Once you know which format your software requires, the next step is choosing a conversion method that reliably gets you from a PDF bank statement to that target format.

How to Convert a PDF Bank Statement to OFX, QFX, or QIF

Three main approaches exist for getting PDF bank statement data into OFX, QFX, or QIF format. Each carries different cost, complexity, and flexibility trade-offs. Before committing to any conversion tool, though, start with the simplest option.

Check your bank first. Many major banks and credit unions offer direct OFX, QFX, or QIF downloads from their online banking portals. Look under transaction history, statements, or export options. If your bank provides the exact format your accounting software needs, you skip the entire conversion process. Note that bank downloads typically cover a limited window (often 60 to 90 days of transactions), so PDF conversion remains necessary for older or historical statements.

If direct download is not available for your bank or your target format, you have two conversion paths: a dedicated converter tool or a two-step extraction workflow.

Comparing Your Conversion Options

Method	Typical Cost	Complexity	Best For
Direct bank download	Free	None (if available)	Users whose bank provides the format they need
Dedicated PDF-to-OFX converter	$20-$60 per tool (one-time)	Low to moderate	Users who regularly convert bank statement PDF to OFX, QFX, or QIF in a single target format
Two-step extraction workflow	Varies (free tiers available for extraction; free format converters)	Moderate	Users who need CSV/Excel output alongside OFX/QFX/QIF, or process statements from multiple banks and formats

Dedicated Converter Tools: The Direct Route

Purpose-built PDF to OFX converter tools handle the entire translation in a single application. ProperSoft offers individual products for each format (PDF2OFX, PDF2QFX, PDF2QIF), and MoneyThumb provides similar single-format converters (PDF2QFX, PDF2OFX). These are the most commonly referenced tools in this category as of 2026.

The typical workflow across these tools follows a consistent pattern:

Upload your PDF bank statement into the converter application.
Map transaction fields if the tool does not auto-detect your bank's layout. This means telling the software which columns represent dates, descriptions, and amounts.
Set date and number formats to match your region (MM/DD/YYYY vs. DD/MM/YYYY, decimal separators).
Run the conversion and review the output file for accuracy, checking transaction counts and totals against the original PDF.
Import the generated file into your accounting software.

Trade-Offs to Consider

Dedicated converters are straightforward when you need one specific format on a recurring basis. However, several limitations are worth weighing:

Separate purchase per format. PDF2OFX, PDF2QFX, and PDF2QIF are typically sold as individual products. If you need both OFX for QuickBooks Desktop and QIF for another application, that means buying two tools.
PDF structure dependency. Conversion accuracy varies based on how the bank generated the PDF. Natively digital PDFs with selectable text generally convert well. Scanned paper statements or image-based PDFs cause most tools to fail or produce unreliable output.
Single-purpose output. These tools produce the target financial format only. If you also need transaction data in a spreadsheet for analysis or reconciliation, you will need a separate process.

For users who need more flexibility across formats, who process statements from multiple banks, or who also want their bank statement data in spreadsheet form, the two-step extraction workflow offers a different approach.

The Two-Step Workflow: Extract First, Then Convert

Rather than relying on a single tool to handle the entire PDF-to-OFX/QFX/QIF conversion in one pass, a two-step workflow splits the process into its natural stages: first, extract the transaction data from the PDF into a structured spreadsheet format (CSV or Excel), then convert that spreadsheet into the target financial interchange format. This separation gives you more control, better accuracy, and a spreadsheet you can archive or reuse.

Step 1: Extract Transaction Data from the PDF

This is where the outcome is decided. The quality of your final OFX, QFX, or QIF file depends entirely on how accurately the transaction data is pulled from the source PDF. Extraction tools parse the PDF, identify transaction rows, and map each entry's date, description, amount, and running balance into columns of a structured CSV or Excel file.

The extraction step is where most direct converters struggle, because PDF bank statements vary wildly across banks, regions, and time periods. Headers shift, column layouts change, and scanned documents add OCR complexity on top of structural variation.

Purpose-built extraction platforms handle this step well. AI-powered bank statement data extraction tools like Invoice Data Extraction use natural language prompts to let you specify exactly what data to pull and how to structure the output. You upload the PDF bank statements, describe what you need extracted (for example, "Extract date, description, debit, credit, and running balance from each transaction"), and receive a structured CSV or Excel file back, typically within seconds per page.

A few capabilities matter here for bank statement workflows specifically:

Batch processing for firms handling multiple clients or months of statements. Invoice Data Extraction supports up to 6,000 files in a single job.
Prompt-based extraction so you can tailor the output columns to match what your downstream converter expects, without manual reformatting.
Scanned PDF and image support, which is critical for older statements or documents received as photos. The platform reads scanned PDFs and image files (JPG, PNG) alongside native PDFs.
Multi-language support for international bank statements across all major languages and scripts.

To be clear, Invoice Data Extraction outputs CSV and Excel, not OFX, QFX, or QIF directly. That is handled in Step 2. For a deeper walkthrough of the extraction process itself, see our guide on converting bank statements to Excel or CSV.

Step 2: Convert CSV to Your Target Format

Once you have clean, structured CSV data with consistent columns, the second step is quick. A CSV-to-OFX (or CSV-to-QFX, CSV-to-QIF) conversion tool maps your spreadsheet columns to the fields required by the target format and produces the final file.

Several tools handle this step. CSV2OFX and a number of online converters are free. Paid options like Bank2OFX offer more configuration for complex mappings. All accept CSV input and produce OFX or QIF output. The conversion itself is relatively mechanical: you tell the tool which column contains the date, which contains the amount, which contains the description, and it writes the properly formatted interchange file. Most tools complete this in seconds.

Because the data is already structured and validated before it reaches the converter, this step rarely introduces errors. The hard work happened in Step 1.

Why the Two-Step Approach Works

Splitting extraction from format conversion creates several concrete advantages:

You can review and correct before converting. If the extraction misreads a transaction amount or date, you catch it in the spreadsheet and fix it before it becomes a malformed OFX record inside your accounting software. Every extraction also produces a CSV or Excel file you can archive, reference during reconciliation, or share with colleagues.

One extraction, multiple output formats. Extract once, then convert the same CSV to OFX for QuickBooks, QIF for a legacy system, and keep the Excel file for your own records. No need to re-process the original PDF for each format.

Extraction tools that specialize in reading bank statement PDFs, including scanned documents and varied bank layouts, also tend to produce more accurate structured data than direct PDF-to-OFX converters that must handle both parsing and format conversion simultaneously.

When to Choose This Workflow Over a Direct Converter

The two-step approach is the stronger choice when you process statements from many different banks (the extraction tool absorbs the format variation so you do not need a separate converter profile for each bank), when you need the data in spreadsheet form alongside the OFX/QFX/QIF file, when your source PDFs are scanned images rather than native digital files, or when you need to process large batches where manual configuration per file is not practical.

For a single native-PDF statement from a bank your direct converter already supports, a one-step tool may be faster. But for firms handling varied statement formats at volume, the two-step workflow provides reliability and flexibility that direct converters cannot match.

Regardless of which conversion method you select, certain technical pitfalls can compromise the quality of the converted file and cause import failures in your accounting software.

Common Pitfalls When Converting Bank Statement Formats

Converting PDF bank statements to OFX, QFX, or QIF is rarely a one-click success. Several technical issues can silently corrupt your data or cause import failures. Knowing these pitfalls before you start saves hours of troubleshooting after the fact.

Date Format Mismatches

OFX files store dates in YYYYMMDD format, but source PDFs vary widely: DD/MM/YYYY in the UK and Australia, MM/DD/YYYY in the US, or other regional conventions. The danger is subtle. When both the day and month values fall below 13, the converter cannot tell whether 05/06/2026 means May 6th or June 5th. It guesses, and it may guess wrong.

The fix is straightforward. Before running a batch conversion, check the date format used in your source PDF and configure the converter to match it exactly. After conversion, verify the first several transactions against the original statement. If a transaction dated January 3rd in your PDF shows up as March 1st in the converted file, your date format setting is wrong.

Sign Conventions for Debits and Credits

Positive and negative amounts are not handled uniformly across formats and software. Some OFX files represent debits as negative values and credits as positive. Others rely on the TRNTYPE field, tagging each transaction as DEBIT or CREDIT to indicate direction, with the amount itself always positive.

If the converter applies the wrong sign convention, every debit appears as a credit and every credit as a debit in your accounting software. The ledger will look superficially normal until you reconcile against actual bank balances and find everything inverted. After your first import, compare a handful of known transactions (a payroll withdrawal should be a debit, a client payment should be a credit) to confirm the signs are correct.

Duplicate Transaction Detection

Importing converted files introduces a real risk of recording the same transactions twice. This happens when statement periods overlap (the last few days of one monthly statement appear again at the start of the next) or when you re-import a corrected file without removing the original import.

Most accounting software includes built-in duplicate detection, matching on transaction date, amount, and reference number. But this detection is not foolproof, especially when reference numbers differ between statement versions or when multiple transactions share the same date and amount. Import one statement period at a time, in chronological order, and verify that the imported ending balance matches the bank's closing balance for that period before moving to the next.

Balance Verification After Import

This is the single most reliable check you can perform. After importing a converted file, compare the ending balance in your accounting software to the closing balance printed on the original bank statement. If the two figures match, your conversion captured every transaction with the correct amounts and signs. If they do not match, something went wrong: a transaction was missed, an amount was parsed incorrectly, or a sign was flipped.

Do this comparison for every statement period you import. It takes less than a minute and catches errors that would otherwise surface weeks later during reconciliation. For a detailed walkthrough of reconciling imported bank statement data, including how to trace and resolve discrepancies, refer to our dedicated reconciliation guide.

Character Encoding Issues

Bank statements from international institutions frequently contain accented characters in payee names, non-ASCII currency symbols, or special characters in transaction descriptions. If the converter does not handle UTF-8 encoding, these characters may be stripped, replaced with garbled text, or cause the entire conversion to fail.

Before converting international statements, confirm that your conversion tool supports UTF-8 encoding. After conversion, spot-check a few transactions that contain special characters to ensure they transferred cleanly. Corrupted payee names may seem cosmetic, but they break search functionality and make it harder to match transactions during reconciliation.

Choosing the Right Conversion Path

The right method for converting PDF bank statements to OFX, QFX, or QIF depends on your volume, the variety of banks you work with, and whether you need more than one output format. Here is a practical framework to guide your decision.

Your bank offers direct OFX, QFX, or QIF downloads. Start here. Log into your online banking portal and look for export, download, or statement options. If the format matches what your accounting software requires, this is the fastest and most reliable path with zero conversion needed.

You convert a few PDF bank statements per month to a single format. A dedicated converter tool such as ProperSoft or MoneyThumb handles this well. These applications accept a PDF and output the financial interchange file directly. A one-time software purchase covers the workflow, and the process works well when you have a consistent PDF layout from one or two banks.

You process statements from multiple banks, need spreadsheet output alongside financial interchange files, or work with scanned PDFs. The two-step extraction workflow is the stronger choice. Extracting transaction data first into CSV gives you a clean, editable dataset that works across varied PDF formats, including image-based scans that require OCR. From there, you convert the CSV into whatever format your software needs. This approach handles inconsistent layouts better because you can verify and correct the extracted data before generating the final file.

You need multiple output formats from the same statements. The two-step workflow is the most efficient way to convert PDF to OFX, QFX, and QIF from a single source. One extraction produces your CSV data, and that same dataset feeds into whichever converter you need. You avoid re-extracting the same PDF multiple times for different software targets.

Before starting any conversion, refer back to the compatibility matrix earlier in this article to confirm exactly which format and version your accounting software expects. Importing the wrong format wastes time and can produce errors that are difficult to trace.

Action checklist to get started:

Identify which format your accounting software requires (OFX, QFX, or QIF) and any version constraints.
Check your bank's online portal for direct transaction file downloads in that format.
If direct download is unavailable, select your conversion method: a dedicated converter for low-volume single-format needs, or the two-step extraction workflow for higher volume, multiple banks, or multiple output formats.
After importing the converted file, verify that the ending balance in your accounting software matches the ending balance on your original bank statement. A mismatch signals missing or duplicated transactions that need correction before you proceed.