Manually import transactions into QuickBooks Self-Employed

Learn how to manually groups of transactions.

If you don't want to connect your bank or credit card accounts to QuickBooks Self-Employed, or you can't connect them, don't worry.

You can add transactions manually from a CSV file. Most banks let you download transactions from their website into a CSV. And if you use spreadsheets to track everything, you can save your work in this format. Here's how to upload CSVs to get your transactions into QuickBooks.

In this article, you'll learn how to:

• Decide which method is best for you
• Import your transactions
• Learn about CSV formats
• Fine tune the formatting
• Fine tune the formatting for credit card accounts

Decide which method is best for you

We recommend you either connect your accounts to online banking or manually upload your transactions with a CSV. Follow one method. Don't use both since this can create duplicate transactions.

Note: If your account is connected to online banking and you need older transactions, follow these steps to manually import older transactions into QuickBooks Self-Employed.

Import your transactions

1. Go to the Profile ⚙ icon and select Imports.
2. Select Import transactions.
3. Follow the onscreen steps to upload the CSV file.
4. Select Import.

Note: CSVs uploaded in QuickBooks Self-Employed must have a date format of dd/mm/yyyy. The amounts should be separated within 1 column as negatives or positives if they're an expense or deposit, respectively.

Learn about CSV formats

You can upload CSVs with either the following 3-column or 4-column format. These are the only columns QuickBooks can handle and this order.

Each bank formats CSV files differently. This means you may not be able to import CSVs from certain banks since files don't have the format QuickBooks needs. If your bank doesn't support CSV files but offers Quicken (QFX), QuickBooks Online (QBO), or Microsoft Money (OFX), you can try to import your data and then upload more than 90 days of bank transactions through Web Connect.

The 3-column format

This format has a Date, Description, and Amount column.

The 4-column format

This format has a Date, Description, Credit, and Debit column.

Fine tune the formatting

• Remove any zeroes (0) from the file. Leave those cells blank.
• Correct any transactions that display numbers in the Description column.
• Remove the word "amount" if it appears in the Credit or Debit column header. They should only read "Credit" and "Debit" without the word "amount."
• Make sure the dates are in one format. We recommend you use: dd/mm/yyyy.
• Mac users must save the file as a Windows CSV file.
• Some banks add the day of the week in the Date column (for example, 20/11/2018 TUE). You need to remove the day of the week. To do this, split the date and the day of the week into separate columns:
  1. Open the CSV in Microsoft Excel.
  2. Highlight the column that contains the date.
  3. Go to Data then select Text to Columns.
  4. Follow the onscreen steps and select the following:
     • Original data type: Delimited
     • Delimiters: Space
     • Column data format: General

You can also follow the steps from Microsoft.

Fine tune the formatting for credit card accounts

• CSV files for credit card accounts may display transactions in reverse. For example, deposits may appear as negative amounts because paying your credit card reduces your balance.
• To make sure these transactions are imported correctly, select the corresponding credit card account (not a bank account) when you upload the file into QuickBooks Online.