Chase CSV to QBO, without uploading it.
Drop the CSV you downloaded from Chase. Plainsum reads the Posting Date, Description, Amount and Balance columns, checks that the running balance follows from the amounts, and writes a QBO file for QuickBooks Online's Upload from 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 Chase CSV
A .csv saved from Chase, or the same file saved from Excel as .xlsx or .xls. The seven columns are recognised by their headings.
Look for "Balances agree"
Chase includes a running Balance column, so the preview can prove that every amount and sign fits the balance after it. If it says Does not add up, it names the lines.
Download QBO
Pick the account type, optionally type the last digits of the account number, and download. QFX, OFX, QIF and a clean CSV come from the same screen.
Download the CSV from Chase
In Chase'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sits and what it is called changes with the bank's website and app, so this page does not give menu names that might be out of date.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 Chase help for "download transactions".
Download a date range that you have not imported before and keep the file as Chase gave it. Re-saving it from a spreadsheet can change how dates and numbers are stored, so convert the original download where you can.
If Chase 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 Chase checking CSV
The Chase layout used for testing has a heading row of Details, Posting Date, Description, Amount, Type, Balance, Check or Slip #, one transaction per line, newest first, and an extra comma at the end of each data line. All of that is handled without any setting.
| Column in the file | What Plainsum does with it |
|---|---|
| Details (DEBIT or CREDIT) | Not used for the sign. Amount is already signed, so Plainsum does not treat this column as a debit and credit marker. It is not in the QBO file. |
| Posting Date | The transaction date, read month first (02/13/2025 is February 13). Dates that can only be read one way settle the order, so there is nothing to choose. |
| Description | Becomes the payee (the first 32 characters), and the full text goes in the memo when it is longer. |
| Amount | Used as it is. Negative is money out, positive is money in. A purchase on a checking account stays negative in the QBO file. |
| Type (DEBIT_CARD, ACH_CREDIT and so on) | Ignored. The QBO type is worked out from the sign of the amount. |
| Balance | The balance after each transaction. Used only for the check in the preview. It works even though the file lists newest first. |
| Check or Slip # | Carried into the QBO file as the check number when the field is filled in. |
In the 36-row Chase-style file we test with, the preview shows 36 transactions, 2,983.97 money in, 2,449.22 money out, a net of 534.75 and a closing balance of 2,934.75 with the stamp Balances agree. Your own file will have different numbers; the point is that the stamp appears when the Balance column and the amounts fit together.
Chase lists newest first, and the free limit counts rows in the order of the file, so a file longer than 30 rows loses its oldest rows from the free download. The preview dims the rows that are left out. 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
- The stamp. Balances agree means each balance equals the one before it plus the amount, across the whole file. It is strong evidence that the amounts and signs were read correctly, not proof. Compare the closing balance shown with the balance Chase shows for the same day.
- Money out and Money in. Debit card purchases, fees and checks should sit under Money out, and payroll or transfers in under Money in. If they are swapped, the Signs control under "How the columns were read" fixes it, but a Chase checking file should not need it.
- The date range. The Dates line shows the first and last date in the file. If the last date is not the day you expected, the download was cut off before it.
- Where the last import ended. Compare the first date in the file with the last date you imported, so that you neither skip days nor repeat a long stretch.
- A Chase credit card file. A card download is a different layout from this one. Open it here, set Account type to Credit card, and read the preview before you trust the signs.
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 Chase 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 Chase. QuickBooks Online accepts a file like that through Upload from file. QuickBooks Desktop may ask you to pick a bank or may refuse the file. 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 Chase. Imported transactions wait on the For review tab and change nothing in your books until you accept them.
Questions
How do I convert a Chase CSV to a QBO file?
Drop the CSV on the box at the top of this page. Plainsum reads the Posting Date, Description, Amount, Balance and Check or Slip # columns by their headings, shows the preview and a balance check, and you press Download QBO. The file is built in your browser and saved to your computer.
Why does Plainsum ignore the Details column?
Details only repeats DEBIT or CREDIT, and the Amount column already carries the sign. Reading Details as well would risk flipping a sign twice, so on a Chase checking file it is left out. If a file ever has unsigned amounts and a debit/credit column, you can assign that column by hand in the column list.
Chase lists the newest transactions first. Does that matter?
No. Each transaction carries its own date in the QBO file, and the balance check follows the running balance in either direction. The one place the order shows is the free limit, which counts rows in the order of the file, so the oldest rows are the ones left out of a long free download.
Will QuickBooks show these as Chase transactions?
QuickBooks Online lets you choose the account the upload goes into, so the transactions land in the account you pick. The institution name in the file is a label you can type in the Bank box, and the bank ID is a generic one because Plainsum does not ship Intuit's numbers for banks. QuickBooks Desktop and Quicken may handle that differently, so try a few rows first.
Can I upload an overlapping date range again?
Each row gets an ID worked out from its date, amount, description and check number, so a row you export again gets the same ID, which is what QuickBooks uses to recognise a transaction it has seen. QuickBooks decides what it skips, so look at the For review list after an overlapping upload.
Does it work with the .xlsx or .xls version of my Chase file?
Yes. A Chase CSV saved from Excel as .xlsx or .xls opens the same way, and the test files for both give the same 36 rows as the CSV. Free covers 30 transactions per file; Pro is a one-time $19.