CSV, OFX or QFX: which file your accounting software actually wants

Once a bank statement is converted, you have a choice of file to download — and picking the right one saves an import step, a column-mapping screen, or an hour of confusion. Here's the map.

The formats in one paragraph each

CSV is a plain text table: date, description, amount. Every tool on earth opens it, which is why it's the universal default — and why it carries no metadata: no account identity, no currency, no deduplication hints. You'll usually map columns on import.

Excel (XLSX) is CSV with formatting and formulas welcome. Ideal as a working file — filtering, notes, pivot tables — rather than an import format.

OFX (Open Financial Exchange) is the banking-industry interchange format: transactions plus account metadata in one structured file. Accounting software imports it without column mapping and can deduplicate against bank-feed data. When your destination accepts OFX, it's almost always the smoothest choice.

QFX is OFX wearing Quicken's badge — Intuit's flavour with an extra identifier that Quicken requires. If the destination is Quicken, you need QFX specifically (details here).

JSON is for developers: structured data for scripts, dashboards, or piping into your own systems — usually via the API.

The decision table

Why one converter should give you all five

The annoying version of this story: your converter outputs Excel only, your accounting software wants OFX, and you end up running a second conversion through a second tool — a fresh chance for dates and signs to get mangled, with no verification anywhere in the chain.

NoRekey exports all five formats from the same conversion, and the conversion itself is balance-checked against the statement's declared opening and closing totals before you download anything. Pick the file your destination wants; the numbers are the same, proven once. (Longer help-centre version: which format should I use?)