How to Import Credit Card Transactions into QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is an accounting and bookkeeping software used by many small businesses. It records all your transactions by connecting your business bank account or credit card account. This can help in your accounting and bookkeeping processes and make them easier, boosting your workflow and ultimately having a positive impact on your business progress. You can also import credit card transactions into QuickBooks using a CSV, TXT, QBO, or QFX file. In this blog, we’ll cover all you need to know to import your credit card transactions into QuickBooks Online & Desktop.

Import Credit Card Transactions into QuickBooks – A Quick View Table

Given in the table below is a concise summary of this blog on the topic of importing credit card transactions into QuickBooks Online and Desktop:

Description	You can import credit card transactions into QuickBooks using a CSV, TXT, QBO, or QFX file to ensure you record any missing transactions or feed new transactions. Failing to do so can hamper your workflow and important business processes.
Import transactions in QBO	Comply with the guidelines: 1. Remove the word “amount” from the following: > Credit, Debit 2. Leave any cells in the following that only contain zero (0) blank: 3. Amount, Credit, and Debit 4. Remove numbers from cells in the Description column 5. Enter all Dates in the same format 6. Split the date and the day of the week into separate columns Upload a list: 1. Select a tile for the account you want to upload transactions into 2. Click on the Link Account dropdown menu 3. Then, select Upload from file 4. Proceed to click on Drag and drop or select files 5. Choose the file you downloaded from your bank 6. Hit Continue 7. Click on the Select account dropdown menu 8. Choose the account you wish to upload the transactions into 9. Press Continue
Import transactions in QB Desktop	1. Open the QB Desktop app 2. Navigate to the Banking menu 3. Click on Bank Feeds 4. Select the Bank Feeds Center 5. Go to the Bank Accounts list 6. Select the account you wish to connect 7. In the Send items to your bank section, select the Online Checks link to edit or cancel a payment (optionally) 8. Click on Download Transactions when you’re ready to get your transactions 9. If you’ve already downloaded the transactions but haven’t reviewed them, select Transaction List 10. Hit Synchronize 11. If you only want to download transactions for a specific account, select Sync this account 12. If you want to download transactions for all your accounts at the same bank, select Sync all for this Bank 13. Enter the PIN or password to connect to your bank in the Access to window 14. Press OK

Manually import credit card transactions into QuickBooks Online​

First, visit your bank or credit card’s website to learn how to retrieve a record of your transactions. Ensure the record or account statement starts at least a day before your oldest QB transaction in that account. The List file guidelines are given below:

List File Guidelines

The file you upload should be in English. It should be 350 KB or less. It is suggested to import your transactions using a QB Online (QBO) file; however, you can also do so by importing a Quicken (QFX) file or a CSV file. Each file needs either 3 columns or 4 columns. The column consists of:

1. 3 Columns: Date, Description, and Amount
2. 4 Columns: Date, Description, Credit, and Debit

For larger uploads, shorten the date range and download transactions in smaller batches:

1. Remove the word “amount” from the following:
   • Credit
   • Debit
2. Leave any cells in the following that only contain zero (0) blank:
   • Amount
   • Credit
   • Debit
3. Remove numbers from cells in the Description column
4. Enter all Dates in the same format
   • QB recommends the dd/mm/yyyy format
5. Some banks add the day of the week in the Date column
   • For example, 20/11/2018 TUE
   • Split the date and the day of the week into separate columns

To upload your list, follow the steps in the next section.

Upload a List

You can upload up to a thousand lines per upload, where each line contains one transaction, with the steps given below:

1. Select a tile for the account you want to upload transactions into
2. Click on the Link Account dropdown menu
3. Then, select Upload from file
   • If your account isn’t connected yet to online banking, select Upload transactions
4. Proceed to click on Drag and drop or select files
5. Choose the file you downloaded from your bank
6. Hit Continue
7. Click on the Select account dropdown menu
8. Choose the account you wish to upload the transactions into
9. Press Continue
   • 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
10. Match the columns in the file with the correct fields QB
11. Press Continue
12. Choose the transactions you want to import
13. Hit Continue
14. Select Yes
15. Hit Done

This would import your credit card transactions into the QuickBooks Online file.

Importing Credit Card Transactions Into QuickBooks Desktop

You can download the bank feed transactions in order to import credit card transactions into QuickBooks Desktop. You have to first set up accounts for bank feeds. Then keep these few things in mind:

1. Back up your company file before downloading the bank feed transactions
2. You can’t download transactions into the same QB Desktop company file more than one time. However, your bank may be able to open the transactions again on their side so QB Desktop can download them again. You can contact our experts to get help with this.
3. Web connect only works with .qbo files. Other types, like QFX and QIF Quicken files, won’t work.

You can download transactions in QB Desktop using these two ways:

1. Direct Connect
2. Web Connect

We’ll discuss both of them in the upcoming sections.

Download Using Direct Connect in QuickBooks Desktop

The first time you connect, QB Desktop downloads the maximum number of transactions available from your bank automatically. Depending on the bank, this can provide up to a year of historical transaction data.  Most banks can only download 90 days of transaction history. The steps to download transactions are given below:

1. Open the QB Desktop app
2. Navigate to the Banking menu
3. Click on Bank Feeds
4. Select the Bank Feeds Center
5. Go to the Bank Accounts list
6. Select the account you wish to connect
   • In the Send items to your bank section, select the Online Checks link to edit or cancel a payment (optionally)
7. Click on Download Transactions when you’re ready to get your transactions
   • If you’ve already downloaded the transactions but haven’t reviewed them, select Transaction List
8. Hit Synchronize
   • If you only want to download transactions for a specific account, select Sync this account
   • If you want to download transactions for all your accounts at the same bank, select Sync all for this Bank
9. Enter the PIN or password to connect to your bank in the Access to window
10. Press OK

After you import credit card transactions into QuickBooks, you need to match or add any new ones.

Download Using Web Connect in QuickBooks Desktop

Some banks have the option of setting a date range for downloads. You would automatically get the maximum number of transactions available the first time you download if your bank doesn’t have this option. This can be 30, 60, 90 days, or more, depending on the bank or credit card you use for your business transactions. You can import transactions in two ways via Web Connect:

If You’re Using QB Desktop

1. Open the QB Desktop app
2. Navigate to the Banking menu
3. Click on Bank Feeds
4. Proceed to select the Banking Center
5. Find your bank
6. Then, select Download Transactions
7. This would open a browser window to your bank’s website
8. Sign in to your bank’s website
9. Download the Web Connect file

If You Are Outside of QB Desktop

1. Open a web browser
2. Go to your credit card’s website
3. Sign in using the normal process
4. Download your transactions as a QuickBooks Web Connect (.qbo) file
   • Every bank has a different method for downloading the QB Web Connect files
   • If you’re not sure how to do it, visit your bank’s website and look for their steps
   • If you can’t find any, reach out to your bank for help
5. After downloading the Web Connect file, follow the steps to import it into QuickBooks Desktop

This would import credit card transactions into your QuickBooks Desktop company file.

Conclusion

You can import credit card transactions into QuickBooks using a CSV, TXT, QBO, or QFX file to ensure you record any missing transactions or feed new transactions. Failing to do so can hamper your workflow and important business processes. We have covered the steps you need to know for importing credit card transactions into QuickBooks Online and Desktop in this blog.

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