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Manually upload transactions into QuickBooks

by Intuit•104• Updated a day ago

Learn how to manually upload transactions from your bank or credit card in QuickBooks.

Note: This article is for customers using QuickBooks Online (Advanced, Essentials, Plus, and Simple Start) and Sole Trader.

When you connect your bank and credit card accounts, QuickBooks automatically downloads transactions up to a certain date. However, you can manually upload transactions if you want to enter old transactions, can’t find your bank, or connect it to QuickBooks.

Follow the steps below based on the product you are using.

This is Katheryn from the QuickBooks team. If you can, it's best to connect your bank or credit card to QuickBooks because then QuickBooks automatically downloads your transactions for you. However, that's not possible for some banks, or you may want to add some older transactions to QuickBooks. In those cases, you'll need to download the transactions from your bank and then upload them to QuickBooks. Let's go over how to upload transactions for a new account and then how to upload more transactions in the future. First, you'll need to download the transactions from your bank. Sign into your bank or credit card’s website. Follow your bank's instructions for how to download transactions to your computer. This process will be slightly different for each bank, so you may need to search for how to do it. Now you have to decide how far back you want your transactions to go. This is important so you can avoid duplicate transactions. If this is for an account that isn't in QuickBooks yet, then set the range for as far back as you want QuickBooks to keep track of. If you want QuickBooks to start at the beginning of the month, then download just the transactions from this month. If you want to go back further, then set the range back further. If you've already added your account to QuickBooks but haven't added any transactions yet, then have your transactions go back to match the date of the opening balance of your account when you set it up in QuickBooks. If your account is in QuickBooks and you've already added transactions to it, then find the date of the last transaction and select the next day. Once you set your date range, download the transactions to your computer. It’s best to save these as a QBO file if you have that option. If not, you can save them as a CSV file. If you aren’t able to download a file from your bank, you can use a PDF bank statement, or even a picture of a paper statement, and upload it to QuickBooks. Check out our help material here to learn how. Now go to QuickBooks to upload your new transactions. Select Accounting. Then choose to upload transactions manually. Next, select the account you want to upload the transactions into. If this is a new account, select Add New and name it. QuickBooks will add the transactions to your account. Then select Upload from this device. Select the file you downloaded from your bank. Here, you’ll fill out details about the header, columns, and date format used in the file you downloaded from your bank. Once that’s done, you’ll map the columns from your file to the correct QuickBooks fields, so QuickBooks knows exactly where each piece of information belongs. When finished, select continue. On the next screen, you’ll check whether the amounts for your transactions are shown correctly as positive or negative. If the values are in the reverse amount, just select "Reverse all values" to fix it. Once everything looks accurate, select the transactions you want to import, then choose Continue. Then Yes Then done. You'll see all your new transactions here under your account. Whenever you have more transactions to add in the future, just download them from your bank. Then select the account. Select Upload from file and follow the steps again. Now you're ready to start posting your manually downloaded transactions to QuickBooks.

Step 1: Pick a start date

To avoid entering duplicates, you need to know the date of the oldest existing transaction currently in the account:

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window
  2. Find the account you want to upload the transactions into. Then select Account history.
  3. Find the oldest transaction, then write down the date.
    Note: Usually, the oldest transaction is the opening balance.

Your account statement can be from any bank, as long as it's in English. It can be a PDF or an image file, such as a JPG, PNG, or HEIC.

Step 2: Get transactions from your bank

  1. Sign in to your bank or credit card's website.
  2. Follow the instructions on how to download CSV files of your transactions to your computer. Every financial institution has different steps.
  3. Make sure the date range for the download begins at least one day before your oldest transaction.
  4. Download your transactions. Save the file somewhere you can easily find it, like your computer's desktop.
Tip: Your bank may offer a few file formats. If possible, pick the QuickBooks Online data (QBO) format. These are formatted specifically for QuickBooks Online. You can also upload transactions from a CSV file or other supported file types.

Step 3: Review the file format and size

Review the file you download from your bank and make sure it's in the correct format before you upload it. Here are the things to check to prevent errors:

Note: The maximum file size is 350 KB. You can shorten the date range and download transactions in smaller batches if the file size is too big.

  • Remove any zeroes (0) from the file and leave those cells blank.
  • Fix any transactions that show numbers in the Description column.
  • Remove the word “amount” from the Credit or Debit column header. They should only say “Credit” and “Debit”.
  • Make sure that all dates follow the same format. We recommend you use dd/mm/yyyy format.
  • If you’re a Mac user, make sure to save the file as 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.

You can only upload CSV file in QuickBooks that has either 3-column or 4-column format.

CSV formatDescription
3-column formatHas a Date, Description, and Amount column.
4-column formatHas a Date, Description, Credit, and Debit column.

Upload an account statement as an image or PDF

When you upload a PDF or image, our AI extracts the info from the account statement ‌and imports it into QuickBooks Online.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window

  1. If you see a tile for the account you want to upload transactions into, select it. 
  2. Select the Link account â–Ľ dropdown, then select Upload from file.
    Note: If your account isn't connected yet to online banking, select Upload transactions.
  3. In the Select account â–Ľ dropdown, select the account you want to upload the transactions into.
    Note: If you're new to QuickBooks, you may not have an account to upload the transactions into. If you don't see one, select Add new from the â–Ľ dropdown to create a new bank account.
  4. Upload the account statement as a PDF or image file from your computer.
    Note: We may tell you that some items need review. If so, our team of global experts may review your statement to make sure everything is correct. When the statement’s ready, we’ll tell you so on the Bank transactions page.
  5. Select Got it.
  6. Check the side-by-side view of your account statement and what QuickBooks extracted from it. Edit any fields or items that need your attention and review everything for accuracy.
  7. Select Save. You’ll see the transactions on your Bank transactions page for that bank or credit card account.

Step 4: Manually upload the transactions

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window
  2. Select the blue tile for the account you want to upload the transactions into.
  3. Select the Link account ▼ dropdown, then select Upload from file.
    Note: If your account isn't connected yet to online banking, select Upload transactions.
  4. In the Select account â–Ľ dropdown, select the account you want to upload the transactions into.
    Note: If you're new to QuickBooks, you may not have an account to upload the transactions into. If you don't see one, select + Add new ▼ from the dropdown to create a new bank account.
  5. Upload the account statement file from your computer.
  6. Follow the onscreen steps to match the columns on the file with the correct fields in QuickBooks. Then select Continue.
  7. Select the transactions you would like to import. Then select Continue.
  8. Select Yes to confirm.
  9. Select Done.

If you see an error message, don't worry. Here's how to fix errors while uploading your transactions.

Note: There's a 1,000 line limit per upload.

Step 5: Categorise the transactions

Now that your transactions are in QuickBooks, it's time to match and categorise them. The transactions go into your accounts after you review them.

QuickBooks Online also enters certain details automatically if you set up any banking rules, or if it recognises transaction descriptions.

Step 6: Reconcile the transactions

Reconcile the transactions that you uploaded. This is to make sure that all transactions are recorded correctly in QuickBooks.

Step 1: Get transactions from your bank

  1. Sign in to your bank or credit card's website.
  2. Follow the instructions on how to download CSV files of your transactions to your computer. Every financial institution has different steps.
  3. Make sure the date range for the download begins at least one day before your oldest transaction.
  4. Download your transactions. Save the file somewhere you can easily find it, like your computer's desktop.
Tip: Your bank may offer a few file formats. If possible, pick the QuickBooks Online data (QBO) format. These are formatted specifically for QuickBooks. You can also upload transactions from a CSV file or other supported file types.

Step 2: Review the file format and size

Review the file you download from your bank and make sure it's in the correct format before you upload it. Here are the things to check to prevent errors:

Note: The maximum file size is 350 KB. You can shorten the date range and download transactions in smaller batches if the file size is too big.

  • Remove any zeroes (0) from the file and leave those cells blank.
  • Fix any transactions that show numbers in the Description column.
  • Remove the word “amount” from the Credit or Debit column header. They should only say “Credit” and “Debit”.
  • Make sure that all dates follow the same format. We recommend you use dd/mm/yyyy format.
  • If you’re a Mac user, make sure to save the file as 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.

You can only upload CSV file in QuickBooks that has either 3-column or 4-column format.

CSV formatDescription
3-column formatHas a Date, Description, and Amount column.
4-column formatHas a Date, Description, Credit, and Debit column.

Step 3: Manually upload the transactions

  1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product Open this link in a new window
  2. Select the New transaction ▼ dropdown, then select Upload bank statement.
  3. Select Drag and drop or select files and select the file you downloaded from your bank. Then, select Continue.
  4. In the Account name ▼ dropdown, select the account you want to upload the transactions into. Then, select Continue.
  5. Follow the onscreen steps to match the columns on the file with the correct fields in QuickBooks. Then select Continue.
  6. Select the transactions you would like to import. Then select Continue.
  7. Select Yes to confirm.
  8. Select Got it.
  9. If you see an error message, don't worry. Here's how to fix errors while uploading your transactions.

Note: There's a 500 line limit per upload.

Step 4: Review your categorised transactions

QuickBooks Sole Trader uses AI to categorise your transactions based on how you, and other customers have categorised similar transactions. In the rare case that QuickBooks Sole Trader miscategorises a transaction, you can edit the transaction to select the right category. Learn more about categorising bank transactions in QuickBooks Sole Trader.

Note: To categorise your uploaded transactions as you upload them, set up bank rules in QuickBooks first.

Before you upload any transactions, skip manually categorising them by setting up bank rules to categorise online transactions. 

Next steps

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