What is a QBO file? (and how to open one)
· 4 min read
A QBO file is a bank transaction download made for QuickBooks. Banks offer it on their download pages, often labelled "QuickBooks" or "Web Connect". Despite the name, it has nothing to do with QuickBooks Online in particular. It's the format QuickBooks Desktop's Web Connect reads.
What's inside
A QBO file is OFX, the standard format banks use for transaction downloads, with a few of Intuit's own fields added. It's plain text. Open one in Notepad or TextEdit and you'll see tagged fields: the account, the statement dates, and a block for each transaction with its date, amount, description and an ID.
The most important of Intuit's additions is INTU.BID, a number identifying the bank
to QuickBooks. When QuickBooks Desktop says it is "unable to verify the Financial Institution
information for this download", this is the field it's having trouble with.
QBO, QFX and OFX
| Extension | Made for | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| .OFX | Accounting software generally | The standard Open Financial Exchange format |
| .QFX | Quicken | OFX with Intuit's fields added |
| .QBO | QuickBooks (Web Connect) | OFX with Intuit's fields added |
Which QuickBooks can open it
QuickBooks Desktop imports it through Web Connect: File → Utilities → Import → Web Connect Files. According to Intuit, .QBO is the only file type Web Connect can read.
QuickBooks Online accepts it too, through Upload from file in Bank transactions, alongside .QFX, .OFX, .CSV and .TXT. Online's limits are 350 KB and 1,000 transactions per upload.
How to open one without QuickBooks
To see what's in a QBO file, or check why it won't import, open it in the free OFX and QFX viewer. It reads the file in your browser and shows the account, period, totals and every transaction, flags common problems, and shows whether the file has an INTU.BID. It can also convert the transactions to CSV for Excel, or to the CSV layouts QuickBooks Online and Xero import.
Can you make a QBO file yourself?
Not one QuickBooks Desktop will trust. The INTU.BID has to belong to a bank registered with Intuit, so a genuine .QBO can only come from your bank. That's why the viewer's repaired files are written as plain .OFX, which QuickBooks Online can import. For QuickBooks Desktop without a .QBO file, see getting bank transactions into QuickBooks Desktop without a .QBO file.
More from the blog
- Getting bank transactions into QuickBooks Desktop without a .QBO file QuickBooks Desktop’s Web Connect only reads .QBO files. What to do when your bank gives you a CSV, OFX or PDF instead, including Batch Enter Transactions.
- How to convert an OFX or QFX file to CSV or Excel Excel can’t read an OFX or QFX file as a table. How to turn one into a clean CSV in your browser, and what to check before you use it.