Guides · Moneydance

Moneydance import: CSV, QIF and OFX files, step by step, with free templates

Updated November 13, 2026 · 9 min read · By the Utilly team

Moneydance imports bank and card transactions from OFX, QFX, QIF and CSV files, and moves whole histories over from Quicken and Microsoft Money as QIF. The format you pick decides how much work the import is: an OFX file goes straight in, a QIF asks you to check its date format, and a CSV makes you map every column by hand. Here's which file to use, each import screen as Infinite Kind's own help describes it, what to do after the import, how to get old PDF statements in, and free files with known totals to test with first.

Short answer: in Moneydance choose File → Import (or drag the file onto the account name in the side bar), pick the file and the account, and click OK. Use OFX or QFX if your bank offers it, QIF if not, and CSV only as a last resort: Infinite Kind calls CSV files "a distant third". For a CSV, set the Field Delimiter, date format and decimal, then set exactly one field per column. Imported transactions arrive Unconfirmed, so confirm or merge them afterwards. Free test files: a checking CSV (31 fictional transactions), a credit card CSV (21), and the same statements as OFX and QIF.

See the statement behind the test files

Open Utilly's fictional September 2026 checking statement: every line, the balance check from 12,418.36 to 13,440.52, and the CSV, QIF and OFX downloads. Free, because the data is made up. Every test file on this page holds those same 31 lines, so you know exactly what an import should bring in.

Checking CSVChecking OFXChecking QIF

1. The test files

Infinite Kind doesn't publish a template file for Moneydance imports. These files hold Utilly's fictional September 2026 checking and credit card statements in each format Moneydance imports, so you can try an import into a test account and compare the result with known totals before you touch real data. No sign-up.

FileWhat's in itKnown totals
Checking CSVThe 31 lines of the fictional checking statement: Date, Description, Amount, no header row20 payments 28,575.27; 11 deposits 29,597.43; net +1,022.16
Credit card CSVThe 21 lines of the matching fictional card statement, by date19 charges 1,939.94; 2 credits 1,542.18; net −397.76
Checking OFX / QIFThe same 31 lines as Utilly's converter writes them from the PDF statementAs the checking CSV
Credit card OFX / QIFThe same 21 card lines as OFX and QIFAs the credit card CSV

The rows come from Utilly's fictional sample statements (explained on sample bank statement PDF), read by the same engine Utilly's converters use. In the CSVs, dates are month first with slashes (09/01/2026, MDY), the description is the bank's text with commas and quote marks taken out, and Amount is one signed number with a period decimal: positive for a deposit, negative for a payment or charge. There's no header row, because Infinite Kind's CSV articles don't describe a way to skip one. The checking CSV is plain ASCII text with Windows line endings, about 1.4 KB.

09/01/2026,ACH DEBIT GUSTO PAYROLL 0912,-6420.18
09/01/2026,STRIPE TRANSFER ST-K2M8Q4,3184.27
09/02/2026,CHECK 2041,-1850.00
09/02/2026,ACH DEBIT AUSTIN ENERGY UTIL,-412.66

2. Which format to import

Infinite Kind is direct about it: "OFX and QFX files are the best formats to download, with QIF files being the second best and CSV files being a distant third." The reason is that a CSV is "not specifically designed to contain financial information", so "There is no standard order for the columns in a CSV file or names for those columns."

FormatInfinite Kind's rankingWhat the import asks you
OFX / QFXBestWhich Moneydance account the file's account number goes into. Later imports should pick the account by themselves
QIFSecond bestThe account (or a new one), plus a check of the detected date format and decimal character
CSVA distant thirdThe account, field delimiter, date format, decimal, and what every column holds

Moneydance can also download transactions without a file: OFX Direct Connect where your bank supports it, or the optional Moneydance+ subscription. This guide is about files. If your bank only gives you a CSV, Utilly's CSV to OFX and CSV to QIF converters turn it into one of the formats Infinite Kind ranks higher.

3. Importing an OFX or QFX file

  1. Download the OFX or QFX file from your bank's website. If your browser asks which program should open it, choose Moneydance; otherwise save it.
  2. In Moneydance choose File → Import and select the file. Or drag the file onto the account name in the left side bar.
  3. The import window shows the account number from the file. Choose the Moneydance account to import into, then select OK.

"Moneydance will attempt to match the imported account with your existing accounts and should identify the correct account in subsequent imports." The new transactions arrive Unconfirmed (section 6).

4. Importing a QIF file (and moving from Quicken or Microsoft Money)

Bank or card QIF into an existing account. Choose File → Import and select the QIF. The import window lists your accounts; select the one the transactions belong to, or the account named "Imported Bank Account" to import into a new account. "At the bottom of the window, the program will try to determine which date format and decimal character have been used within the QIF file." Check them: the date format "may not always be the format you expect", so open the QIF in Notepad or TextEdit to see what it uses. Then select OK.

Moving from Quicken. Export a QIF from Quicken with File → Export, ideally "all accounts" into a single QIF file, which Infinite Kind says "makes the import process much smoother." On Moneydance's first run choose Import New Account Set in the welcome window; in an existing file use File → Import, or start a blank file with File → New as a "Minimal Account Set" and then File → Import. Moneydance should detect the file's settings; choose Import and wait. Two limits from Infinite Kind's articles:

  • "Moneydance cannot read the native Quicken file format", and some recent Quicken versions have removed QIF export, which leaves those users no route across.
  • Quicken 15/16 for Mac exports QMTF instead. Rename the .QMTF file to .QIF and import it, but "Investment accounts do not transfer correctly with this method."

Moving from Microsoft Money. Re-open any closed accounts first, because Money won't export them. In Money choose File → Export → Loose QIF, one file per account with a descriptive name (an investment account needs two files, one for its investments and one for its cash; loan accounts can't be exported). In Moneydance, create the accounts first with Account → New Account, spelled exactly as in Money, then import each QIF into its matching account. "If you make a mistake (like importing into the wrong account) you'll probably need to start over so be extra careful."

What's inside a QIF file, letter by letter, is on QIF format explained.

5. Importing a CSV file

Infinite Kind recommends CSV only "If CSV is the only file format your bank provides". The steps:

  1. Choose File → Import and select the CSV file.
  2. Specify the account to import into.
  3. Field Delimiter: the character between fields. "Comma is quite common and so is tab. If you're unsure, select comma."
  4. Date format: match the file, which "won't necessarily be the date format you use in Moneydance". For the templates here it's month, day, year.
  5. Decimal: a period or a comma, as used in the file. Click Next.
  6. Fields: the next window lists one field per column, the first field being the leftmost column. Use the "More Fields" and "Fewer Fields" buttons until there are exactly as many fields as columns, and choose the Moneydance field for each one.
  7. Click Finish.

The rule people miss is the field count: "The number of fields you set should match the exact amount of columns within the CSV file." Infinite Kind says not to add extra fields set to Ignore, and not to leave out fields for columns you don't want. Open the CSV in a text editor to check the delimiter, date format and decimal, and in a spreadsheet to see which column is which.

CSV from other personal finance software (rather than a bank) should go through the Text File Importer extension instead (Extensions → Manage Extensions). Infinite Kind's article on it lists the fields a column can be: Date, Check Number, Description (Payee), Account (the register's Category), Amount ("positive for deposit, negative for payment"), Memo, Status and Ignore, and the date formats MDY, DMY, YMD and YDM. It also says the extension reads dates written XX/YY/ZZ or XX/YY/ZZZZ but not dates with letters such as Jan-1-2015, that separate debit and credit columns have to be merged into one signed amount, and that a single amount column with a separate debit/credit column needs the credits made negative. For the templates on this page that's three fields: Date, Description (Payee), Amount.

6. After the import: confirm and merge

An imported file is treated like a bank download. CSV imports arrive "as though they have been downloaded from your bank", so every new line starts Unconfirmed, with a solid blue dot in the register and next to the account in the side bar. To work through them:

  • Click the first unconfirmed transaction. The confirmation panel on the right shows the transaction; fix the Category if needed and select Confirm. The blue dot becomes a blue circle and Moneydance moves to the next one.
  • Merge Choices lists possible duplicates already in the account; Merge combines them so only one copy stays. Merging works in every account type except investment and loan accounts.
  • Similar Payees offers categories you've used before. Moneydance learns from what you confirm, and lines it can't place get the account's Default Category (Account → Edit Account).
  • With the matching range set to Default, Moneydance offers matches up to 90 days older or 14 days in the future. Both that range and Automatically Merge Downloaded Transactions are under File → Preferences → Network (Moneydance → Preferences on a Mac). Infinite Kind suggests narrowing the range before turning automatic merging on.

7. PDF statements

Infinite Kind's import articles cover OFX, QFX, QIF and CSV files and don't mention PDF. Banks often keep years of PDF statements but only offer a few months as downloads, so convert the PDFs first:

  1. Convert each PDF statement with Utilly's bank statement PDF to OFX converter (Moneydance's preferred format) or PDF to QIF. Card statements work the same way. The free preview shows every line and whether the statement balances before you download.
  2. Import one month into a test account first (section 9) and compare it with the statement. Utilly's QIF writes dates as MM/DD/YYYY, so that's the date format to check in the QIF import window.
  3. Import the rest, then confirm the lines (section 6). Where months overlap with transactions already in the account, use Merge rather than Confirm so nothing is counted twice.

Prefer CSV? Utilly's standard CSV has a fourth Balance column and year-first dates, so you'd set four fields and the matching date format. The OFX or QIF route skips the column mapping altogether.

8. Credit cards and investment accounts

Credit cards. A Moneydance credit card account has Charge and Payment where a bank account has Payment and Deposit, and an Initial Debt field instead of Initial Balance. Purchases are charges, which "decrease the balance (and represent the increase of debt)." So in a card CSV, purchases are negative and payments and refunds positive, as in the credit card template: 19 charges negative, the payment and a return positive. Utilly's card OFX and QIF use the same signs. A card payment is a transfer from the checking account, so when both statements come in, merge the second copy rather than confirming it twice.

Investment transactions. Infinite Kind's articles describe two routes: OFX Direct Connect downloads into investment accounts where the bank supports it, and the Microsoft Money move, where the investment account's cash lines are imported into a temporary bank account, then moved with Batch Change → Account into the investment account. Utilly's files are bank and credit card statements only, not investment activity.

9. Checking the import against known totals

Infinite Kind's own tip for CSV settings is a throwaway account: Account → New Account, a "Bank Account" named something like "Import Test", deleted once you know the settings. Import the test files there (and the card files into a test credit card account), never into an account you rely on, then compare:

CheckChecking fileCredit card fileIf it's wrong
Transactions3121Fewer: some lines didn't come in; check the field count and date format
Money out28,575.27 (20)1,939.94 (19)A different total means a column was mapped to the wrong field
Money in29,597.43 (11)1,542.18 (2)Same as above
Change in balance+1,022.16397.76 more owedThe opposite sign means the amounts were read the wrong way round; amounts out by a factor of 100 point to the decimal setting
DatesSept 1–30, 2026Sept 1–30, 2026Other months mean the wrong date format
Statement balance12,418.36 → 13,440.52owed 2,846.12 → 3,243.88Set the Initial Balance (Initial Debt on the card) to the opening figure first

The data is fictional (Example Community Bank and Sample Customer LLC don't exist; both statements say SAMPLE STATEMENT, FICTIONAL DATA FOR DEMONSTRATION ONLY). Replace every row before using a template for real.

10. Problems and fixes

SymptomWhat Infinite Kind's help says to do
CSV data imported but wrong or missing"it's most likely that the wrong settings were selected during the import process." Find the right ones in an Import Test account, delete it, then import into the real account
QIF dates wrongCreate a new blank data file (File → New), import the QIF again and set the "Date Format" field by hand. Check the file's format in a text editor
Transactions up to date but the balance is wrongThe QIF had no initial balance transaction. Select the account, Account → Edit Account, and enter the Initial Balance
Categories with "XXXX" in the name after a QIF moveHidden categories from the old program. Usually safe to delete, but look at their transactions first
Transfers duplicated after a QIF moveMoneydance can only match the two sides of a transfer when both have the same date
Foreign currency transfers at the wrong rateQIF files carry no currency or exchange rate, so Moneydance uses the current rate. Infinite Kind suggests starting the file from the beginning of the year if you have many
Duplicates after importing overlapping filesMerge them during confirmation (section 6)
Still stuck on CSV settingsContact Infinite Kind's support; they suggest sending a copy or sample of the CSV with the request

Comparing programs? GnuCash's CSV import also maps columns in a preview, and Quicken has its own CSV layouts.

Get PDF statements into Moneydance

PDF statements, downloaded or scanned, get a free preview with the balance check, no sign-up. Download OFX, the format Infinite Kind ranks first, or QIF. Already have a bank CSV? Turn it into OFX or QIF. Files are processed in memory and not stored.

Utilly isn't affiliated with Moneydance or The Infinite Kind. The steps and quotes above are from Infinite Kind's Moneydance knowledge base, checked November 13, 2026; the test files weren't imported into a live Moneydance file, and screens may differ between versions. Sources: Importing CSV Files, Manual Downloads, Downloads Methods, Confirm Downloaded Data, Merging Downloaded Transactions, Recognise Downloaded Data, Importing Data in QIF Format, Importing from Quicken without QIF, Importing from Quicken 15/16 for Mac, Importing from Microsoft Money, Possible Problems After QIF Import, Text File Importer Extension, Credit Card Accounts. If a screen differs, follow Infinite Kind's current help.

FAQ

What file formats can Moneydance import?

OFX, QFX, QIF and CSV, all through File, Import. Infinite Kind's own advice is that OFX and QFX files are the best formats to download, QIF files are second best and CSV files a distant third, because a CSV has no standard column order and needs every column mapped by hand.

How do I import a CSV file into Moneydance?

Choose File, Import and select the CSV. Pick the account, the Field Delimiter (comma if unsure), the date format the file uses and the decimal character, then click Next. Set exactly one field per column with More Fields and Fewer Fields, choose what each column holds, and click Finish. The transactions arrive as Unconfirmed.

Can Moneydance import Quicken data?

Only through a QIF export. Export all accounts from Quicken into a single QIF file with File, Export, then use File, Import in Moneydance. Moneydance can't read Quicken's native data file, and Infinite Kind notes that some recent Quicken versions no longer export QIF. Quicken 15/16 for Mac exports QMTF, which you rename to .QIF.

Can Moneydance import from Microsoft Money?

Yes, as QIF. In Money choose File, Export, Loose QIF, one file per account (investment accounts need two). Create the accounts in Moneydance first with exactly the same names, then import each QIF into its matching account with File, Import.

Why are my imported transactions unconfirmed?

Imported and downloaded transactions start as Unconfirmed, shown with a solid blue dot. Click the first one and use the confirmation panel to Confirm it, pick a category, or Merge it with a matching transaction already in the account. Confirmed transactions show a blue circle.

Can Moneydance import a PDF bank statement?

Infinite Kind's import articles cover OFX, QFX, QIF and CSV files and don't mention PDF. Convert the PDF statement to OFX (their first choice) or QIF first, then import that file with File, Import.

Can Moneydance import investment transactions?

Infinite Kind's articles describe OFX Direct Connect downloads into investment accounts where the bank supports it, and a Microsoft Money route where the investment account's cash transactions are imported into a temporary bank account and moved with Batch Change, Account. They note that investment accounts don't transfer correctly through Quicken for Mac's QMTF export.

Why are the dates wrong after a Moneydance import?

The file's date format didn't match the import setting. The date format in a QIF or CSV isn't necessarily the one Moneydance uses for display, so open the file in a text editor to see it, then import again (into a test account or new file) with the matching Date Format.

Related tools

  • Bank reconciliation checker: compare a bank statement to your books and list missing, duplicate and mismatched transactions.
  • Receipt to CSV: turn PDF or photo receipts and invoices into CSV, Excel, or QuickBooks and Xero bill imports.