Amex CSV to QBO, without uploading it.
In an American Express export a positive amount is a charge, the opposite of a bank account. Plainsum flips the signs for a credit card account so that charges come in as money out and payments as money in, and writes a QBO file for QuickBooks. Nothing leaves this tab.
Your file is never uploaded. Columns, dates and signs are detected and can be fixed, every export carries stable transaction IDs, and it is free for 30 transactions per file.
CSV and Excel converter
Drop your CSV or Excel file here
The file your bank or card issuer lets you download (.csv, .tsv, .txt, .xlsx, .xlsm and .xls). It is read inside this page and goes nowhere else.
Add another fileNo upload. This page's security policy forbids network connections, so your file cannot leave it. See how to check that yourself.
1Check how your file was read
2Preview and totals
3Account settings
4Download
Free: every format, the first 30 transactions of each file. Pro ($19, once, the same key as Plainsum Statements Pro): no limit, several files at once, saved column mappings.
How it works
Drop the Amex CSV
The headings include Date, Description, Card Member, Account # and Amount. A Card Member heading switches the account type to Credit card.
Check that charges are money out
Purchases must sit under Money out. The note under the preview says whether the signs were flipped. Choose Keep signs as in the file if that is wrong.
Download QBO
The file is written as a credit card statement for a credit card account in QuickBooks. QFX, OFX, QIF and clean CSV are on the same screen.
Download the CSV from American Express
In American Express's online banking, open the account you want, find the option to download or export account activity, choose CSV as the file type, pick a date range and save the file. Where that option sits and what it is called changes with the bank's website and app, so this page does not give menu names that might be out of date. If you cannot find it, search the American Express help for "download transactions".
Download one card account at a time and a date range you have not imported before. If a file lists several cardholders, the Card Member column names them, and all of them end up in the same QBO file.
If American Express also offers a QuickBooks or Quicken download for your account, that file can be imported without any conversion. This page is for the common case where the CSV is the only thing you have.
How Plainsum reads an American Express CSV
The layout used for testing has the headings Date, Description, Card Member, Account #, Amount. Charges are positive and payments are negative, for example 01/02/2025,SUNRISE FITNESS CLUB,JAMIE TESTER,-12345,39.51 is a charge of 39.51, and -503.31 is a payment.
| Column in the file | What Plainsum does with it |
|---|---|
| Date | Read month first. A date such as 01/20/2025 settles the order. |
| Description | Becomes the payee (first 32 characters), with the full text in the memo when longer. A description with a comma inside quotes stays in one field. |
| Card Member | Not a transaction field. Its presence sets Account type to Credit card. Do not point the description at it, because it would put the cardholder's name on every payee. |
| Account # | Not a transaction field. When every line has the same account number, its last digits (2345 in the test file) are suggested as the account digits. |
| Amount | Positive is a charge and negative is a payment or credit. With Account type set to Credit card, the signs are flipped, so a charge is negative (money out) and a payment is positive (money in). |
The automatic flip applies when the account type is Credit card, the file has at least three non-zero amounts, and at least 70% of them are positive. In the 16-row test file 88% are positive, so the signs are flipped and the preview shows 850.15 money out (charges), 1,043.06 money in (payments and credits) and a net of 192.91. The file has no balance column, so the stamp says Not checked and the totals are your check against the card statement. Free downloads include the first 30 transactions of each file, in every format. Pro is a one-time $19, the same key as Plainsum Statements Pro, and removes the limit.
What to check before you download
- Charges under Money out. This is the one check that matters on an Amex file. Restaurant and shop charges should be under Money out, and "payment thank you" lines under Money in.
- The signs note. After the flip, the note "Signs were flipped automatically (credit card)" appears beside the Signs list. If your file is the other way round, because you already changed it in a spreadsheet, choose Keep signs as in the file.
- If the account type says Checking. The preview then typically shows a warning that most amounts are positive, and charges would import as money in. Set Account type to Credit card and the warning goes away.
- Short files. The automatic flip needs at least three non-zero amounts. For a file with only a couple of lines, check the signs yourself and use the Signs list if they are wrong.
- Totals. Money out should equal the charges and Money in the payments and credits on your statement for the same dates.
Import the .qbo file into QuickBooks Online
- Sign in to QuickBooks Online and open Transactions, then Bank transactions.
- Open the Link account menu (the arrow next to it) and choose Upload from file. In some versions the same option sits under the Update button of an account you have already added.
- Drag the .qbo file into the window or choose Browse, then select Continue.
- Pick the QuickBooks account the transactions belong to. For an American Express file, choose a credit card account in QuickBooks (an existing one or a new one) rather than a bank account. Select Continue.
- Choose which transactions to import and finish with Import. They arrive on the For review tab, where you categorize and accept them.
Menu names change between QuickBooks versions and countries. If you do not see these, search the QuickBooks help for "upload bank transactions from a file".
QuickBooks Desktop and Quicken
The QBO file uses a generic bank ID, not the one Intuit assigns to American Express, and Account type Credit card writes a credit card statement instead of a bank statement. QuickBooks Online accepts a file like that through Upload from file. QuickBooks Desktop may ask you to pick a bank or may refuse it. The same screen also gives you a QFX file for Quicken. Quicken, like QuickBooks Desktop, can be stricter than QuickBooks Online about which institution issued a file, so import a few rows first. In Quicken, look for its option to import a downloaded bank file and search its help for "import a QFX file", because the menu names differ between versions and between Windows and Mac. If a program asks for a bank ID, you can enter one in Advanced settings below the preview.
Import a small file into a test company or a spare account first and compare the transaction count and totals with American Express. Imported transactions wait on the For review tab and change nothing in your books until you accept them.
Questions
How do I convert an Amex CSV to a QBO file?
Drop the CSV on the box at the top. Plainsum detects the Date, Description and Amount columns, sets the account type to Credit card from the Card Member heading, flips the signs so that charges are money out, and you press Download QBO. The file is built in your browser.
Why are my Amex purchases showing as money in?
American Express lists charges as positive amounts, which a bank account would treat as money in. If Account type is Checking, the preview warns you and charges are imported the wrong way. Set Account type to Credit card, or choose Flip every sign in the Signs list.
What if I already changed the signs in Excel?
Then the amounts are already the way a bank account reads them, with charges negative. Choose Keep signs as in the file in the Signs list, so that Plainsum does not flip them back. Check the preview: purchases belong under Money out.
Does the Card Member column matter?
Only for detection. A Card Member heading marks the file as a card export, which sets the account type. Plainsum does not write the name into the QBO file, so the payee stays the merchant. If your file has more than one cardholder, they all arrive in the same QBO file.
Why is there no balance check?
The file has no running balance to compare with. Use the Transactions count and the Money out and Money in totals, and compare them with the new charges and payments on your statement for the same dates.
Is the file uploaded, and what does it cost?
It is not uploaded; the page blocks every network connection. Free downloads include the first 30 transactions of each file, in every format. Pro is a one-time $19, the same key as Plainsum Statements Pro, and removes the limit.