What Is an OFX File? OFX vs QFX vs QBO Explained

An OFX file is a bank download that money software can read without any setup. If your bank offers “OFX”, “Money”, “Quicken” or “QuickBooks” downloads, you’re looking at the same family of files. This guide explains what’s inside an OFX file, how OFX, QFX and QBO differ, which apps want which, and how to open one in Excel.

What OFX stands for

OFX means Open Financial Exchange, a standard created in 1997 by Microsoft, Intuit and CheckFree so that banks could send statements to personal finance software. It replaced each company’s own format with one shared layout. Banks still offer it today because accounting and personal finance apps can import it without asking which column is which.

What’s inside an OFX file

An OFX file isn’t a table. It’s a set of tagged records — a little like HTML. A statement contains the account details, the period, the balance, and a list of transactions, each looking like this:

<STMTTRN>
  <TRNTYPE>DEBIT
  <DTPOSTED>20260105120000
  <TRNAMT>-48.20
  <FITID>202601050001
  <NAME>SHELL OIL 5744
  <MEMO>DEBIT CARD PURCHASE
</STMTTRN>

DTPOSTED is the date, TRNAMT the signed amount (negative for money out), NAME and MEMO the payee and details, and FITID a unique ID. The FITID is OFX’s best feature: software remembers the IDs it has imported and skips them next time, which prevents most duplicate transactions.

OFX versions: 1.x and 2.x

OFX 1.x files use SGML: they start with plain header lines such as OFXHEADER:100, and many tags are never closed. OFX 2.x files are proper XML, starting with <?xml. Most banks still produce 1.x. Good importers read both.

OFX vs QFX vs QBO

QFX and QBO are OFX with Intuit’s extra tag. The tag tells Quicken or QuickBooks which bank the file came from; QuickBooks Desktop in particular checks it, which is why a .qbo file can be refused even though the transactions are fine — see importing Web Connect files into QuickBooks Desktop. Because the transactions are identical, renaming a .qfx to .qbo sometimes works, but it isn’t reliable; converting is cleaner.

Which file should you download?

• QuickBooks: QBO if your bank offers it; otherwise a CSV converted to QuickBooks format.
• Quicken: QFX.
• Xero, Sage, FreeAgent, Zoho Books, GnuCash: OFX if offered; otherwise CSV.
• Excel or Google Sheets: CSV — or convert an OFX you already have.

Our guide to choosing a bank file format goes into the trade-offs.

How to open an OFX file in Excel

Excel can’t open OFX 1.x files usefully; double-clicking one shows a column of tags. OFX 2.x can be loaded through Data → Get Data → From XML, but it arrives as nested tables. The quickest route is to convert it: OFX to Excel produces a workbook with one row per transaction and real dates and numbers, and OFX to CSV does the same as a CSV. The same tools read QFX and QBO files.

How to make an OFX file from a CSV

When your bank only gives you a CSV, you can build the OFX yourself: CSV to OFX reads the CSV or Excel export, works out the dates and amounts, and writes an OFX file with a unique ID for each transaction. For QuickBooks, use CSV to QBO instead.

Common OFX problems

• “Invalid file” on import. The file may be a QIF or a web page saved with an .ofx name. Open it in a text editor: a real OFX file starts with OFXHEADER or <?xml.
• Duplicates despite FITIDs. If a bank changes how it generates IDs, or you combine files from different sources, the same transaction can arrive with two IDs.
• Wrong account. Some apps match the account number in the file; if it doesn’t match, they ask which account to use.
• Several accounts in one file. Some banks put every account into one download. Importers handle this differently; download accounts separately if in doubt.
• Missing recent transactions. OFX downloads usually include posted transactions only.

Is an OFX file safe to share?

An OFX file contains your account number, balance and every transaction in the period. Treat it like a bank statement: don’t email it unencrypted, and prefer tools that convert it on your own computer.