Bank of America CSV to QBO, without uploading it.
A Bank of America download starts with a small summary block before the real heading row. Drop the file here and Plainsum finds the transactions below it, skips the summary and the beginning-balance line, checks the running balance and writes a QBO file. 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 file as downloaded
Do not delete the lines at the top. The summary block is skipped for you, and its totals are useful for the check in step 2.
Compare with the summary
The preview's Money in and Money out should equal the Total credits and Total debits printed in the summary block, and the closing balance its Ending balance.
Download QBO
Choose the account type, add the last digits of the account if you like, and download. QFX, OFX, QIF and clean CSV are on the same screen.
Download the CSV from Bank of America
In Bank of America'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sits and what it is called changes with the bank's website and app, so this page does not give menu names that might be out of date.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 Bank of America help for "download transactions".
Choose a date range and save the file as it comes. If a download contains the summary lines at the top, leave them in; deleting them is unnecessary and removes the totals you can check against.
If Bank of America 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 a Bank of America CSV
The layout used for testing opens with five lines: a Description, , Summary Amt. heading, then a Beginning balance, Total credits, Total debits and Ending balance line, followed by a blank line. The real table starts below it with Date, Description, Amount, Running Bal. and its first line is a "Beginning balance as of" row with no amount. Amounts and balances are quoted with thousands separators, such as "3,442.37".
| Column in the file | What Plainsum does with it |
|---|---|
| The summary block (first five lines) | Never read as transactions. Plainsum looks for the heading row that holds a date, a description and an amount column, which is line 7 in the test file, and starts there. |
| "Beginning balance as of 01/01/2025" row | Has no amount, so it is skipped and listed under Skipped rows in the preview with the reason. Its balance, 3,500.00 in the test file, is used as the opening balance for the check. |
| Date | Read month first. A date like 01/26/2025 settles it. |
| Description | Becomes the payee (first 32 characters) with the full text in the memo when longer. |
| Amount | Used as signed. Negative is money out, positive is money in. |
| Running Bal. | Used only for the balance check. The quoted thousands separators are understood. |
In the 24-transaction test file the preview shows 8,317.71 money in, 2,824.43 money out, a net of 5,493.28 and a closing balance of 8,993.28. The first two match the Total credits and Total debits in the summary block and the last matches its Ending balance, which is why the summary is worth keeping. One row is skipped: the beginning-balance line. 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.
If a download has no summary block, nothing changes. Plainsum finds the heading row wherever it is, in the first rows or further down.
What to check before you download
- Skipped rows (1). Open the Skipped rows list. For a file like the test file it holds only the beginning-balance line. If it lists a real transaction, a column probably was not read as an amount, and the column list under "How the columns were read" shows which.
- Totals against the summary. Money in against Total credits, Money out against Total debits (the summary prints debits with a minus sign, the preview does not), and Closing balance in the file against Ending balance.
- The stamp. Balances agree starts from the beginning balance and follows every running balance to the end. A Does not add up stamp names the lines where the chain breaks.
- Transaction count. Count the lines in the table section of the original file. The Transactions figure should be that number, without the beginning-balance row.
- A card download. A card file from the same bank may list purchases as positive or negative. The preview shows which, and the Signs control and Account type fix a wrong guess.
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 a Bank of America checking or savings file that is your bank account in QuickBooks, either an existing one or a new one. 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 Bank of America. 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 Bank of America. Imported transactions wait on the For review tab and change nothing in your books until you accept them.
Questions
How do I convert a Bank of America CSV to a QBO file?
Drop the CSV as you downloaded it, with the summary lines still at the top. Plainsum finds the heading row, skips the summary and the beginning-balance line, shows the preview and a balance check, and you press Download QBO. The file is built in your browser.
Do I need to delete the summary lines at the top first?
No. They are skipped automatically and are not read as transactions. Leaving them in is better, because the Total credits, Total debits and Ending balance they hold are the quickest way to check the preview.
Why does the preview say one row was skipped?
The first line of the transaction table is a "Beginning balance as of" row with a balance but no amount. It is not a transaction, so it is left out and listed under Skipped rows. Its balance is used as the opening balance in the check.
Why do the amounts with thousands separators still work?
Amounts and balances in the file are quoted, such as "3,442.37". Plainsum decides the decimal mark for the whole column rather than guessing per row, so a comma used as a thousands separator is not mistaken for a decimal comma.
Will uploading the same date range twice create duplicates?
Every row carries an ID made from its date, amount, description and check number, plus a counter for identical rows on the same day. Exporting the same rows again gives the same IDs, which is what QuickBooks uses to spot a transaction it has seen. QuickBooks decides what it skips, so check the For review list.
Is the file uploaded, and what does it cost?
It is not uploaded. The page cannot make network connections, so the file stays in your browser tab. 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.