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BookkeepKit

QBO File Viewer: See Why QuickBooks Rejects a File

Open any .qbo, .qfx or .ofx file to see what's inside and get a plain-English diagnosis of the problems that make QuickBooks or Quicken refuse it.

Drop a QBO, QFX or OFX file here

See every transaction and get a plain-English report of anything QuickBooks would reject.

Processed in your browser. Your files never leave your computer.

How it works

  1. 1

    Drop the file

    The .qbo, .qfx or .ofx file that won't import, or one you want to check before importing.

  2. 2

    Read the diagnosis

    More than a dozen checks: header, version, INTU.BID, account, dates, amounts, transaction IDs, size and characters.

  3. 3

    Fix and retry

    Each problem comes with what it means and how to fix it. Transactions are listed below the report.

The most common reasons a QBO file is rejected

When QuickBooks refuses a Web Connect file, the error message rarely says why. In practice, nearly every failure comes from a short list of causes, and each one can be detected by reading the file:

  1. It isn't really a QBO file. A CSV or a generic OFX renamed to .qbo has no Intuit sign-on data. QuickBooks needs the OFX header, a sign-on section and an INTU.BID.
  2. The INTU.BID is missing or not recognized. This produces the "unable to verify the financial institution" style of errors.
  3. The file is over 350 KB. QuickBooks Online has a hard limit per upload. QuickBooks Desktop doesn't.
  4. Dates are invalid or out of order. A start date after the end date, or transaction dates that can't be read, stop the import.
  5. Amounts are formatted for people, not software. $1,250.00 is not a valid OFX amount; 1250.00 is.
  6. Transaction IDs are missing or repeated. Missing FITIDs can block the import; repeated ones make QuickBooks skip transactions without telling you.
  7. Wrong account type. A credit card file imported into a checking account fails, and vice versa.

How to read the report

Problems marked with a red cross will almost certainly stop the import. Amber warnings are things that some versions of QuickBooks accept and others don't, or that won't stop the import but can cause surprises, like garbled characters in payee names. Green checks are listed too, so you can see exactly what was verified.

Below the report, the file details show the identifiers QuickBooks uses: the OFX version, ORG, FID, INTU.BID, the account type, the last four digits of the account number and the statement period. If you're comparing a file that works with one that doesn't, these values are usually where the difference is.

Importing a QBO file once it passes

QuickBooks Online

  1. Go to Transactions > Bank transactions.
  2. Open Link account and choose Upload from file.
  3. Drag in the .qbo file, pick the matching bank or credit card account, and continue to review.

QuickBooks Desktop

  1. Choose File > Utilities > Import > Web Connect Files.
  2. Select the .qbo file and link it to an existing account, or create a new one.
  3. Review the downloaded transactions in the Bank Feeds center.

When the file can't be fixed by hand

Editing OFX files in a text editor is possible but risky: one stray character can break the whole file. If the report shows structural problems, such as a missing header, a missing INTU.BID or a file that's simply too large, it's usually faster to convert the bank's original export (CSV, OFX or PDF) into a fresh QBO file that's built to pass these checks.

Frequently asked questions

Why does QuickBooks say it can't verify the financial institution?

QuickBooks looks for an INTU.BID value in the file to identify the bank. A missing or invalid INTU.BID is the classic cause, especially when an .ofx file has been renamed to .qbo. The viewer flags it as a problem.

Why does QuickBooks Online say my file is too large?

QuickBooks Online accepts bank files up to 350 KB. The viewer shows the exact size. Split the statement into shorter date ranges to get under the limit.

QuickBooks imported the file but some transactions are missing. Why?

QuickBooks uses each transaction's FITID to avoid importing the same transaction twice. If two transactions share a FITID, or a FITID was already imported, the repeat is silently skipped. The viewer reports duplicate IDs.

Can I import a credit card QBO into a bank account?

No. A file with a credit card section (CCSTMTRS) has to go into a credit card account in QuickBooks, and a bank file into a bank account. The viewer tells you which one you have.

Does the viewer change my file?

No. It only reads the file and reports what it finds. Nothing is modified, uploaded or stored.

Does a clean report guarantee the import will work?

It means the file has none of the problems that cause most rejections. QuickBooks also has rules tied to your company file, such as the account you choose and transactions already imported, which can't be checked from the file alone.

What do ORG, FID and INTU.BID mean?

ORG and FID identify the bank in the OFX standard. INTU.BID is Intuit's own bank identifier used by QuickBooks and Quicken. Together they tell the software which institution produced the file.

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