What is a QFX File?

QFX (Quicken Financial Exchange) is Intuit's proprietary variant of the OFX (Open Financial Exchange) standard. It is the native format that Quicken uses to download bank and credit card transactions directly from financial institutions.

QFX and OFX: The Relationship

QFX is not a separate file format — it is OFX with Intuit-specific branding. The Open Financial Exchange (OFX) standard was co-developed by Microsoft, Intuit, and CheckFree in the late 1990s as a unified way for financial institutions to deliver transaction data to personal finance software. When Intuit packages OFX data for use with Quicken, it uses the .qfx file extension instead of .ofx.

The internal structure of a QFX file is identical to OFX. The only practical difference is that QFX files include Intuit-specific headers and are associated with Quicken through the file extension. This means any software that reads OFX can also read QFX — you can simply rename a .qfx file to .ofx and it will parse correctly in most financial applications.

Intuit uses the QFX branding primarily to control the Quicken ecosystem. Financial institutions that want to offer direct Quicken downloads must participate in Intuit's Web Connect program and generate files with the .qfx extension. This is why your bank's download page often has separate options for "Quicken" (.qfx) and "Microsoft Money" (.ofx) even though the underlying data format is the same.

Key Features

OFX-Based Format

QFX files use the same SGML/XML markup as OFX, making them structured, self-describing, and interoperable with a wide range of financial software.

Bank Direct Download

Over 7,000 financial institutions generate QFX files through Intuit's Web Connect program, providing one-click transaction downloads into Quicken.

Duplicate Detection

Each transaction carries a unique FITID (Financial Institution Transaction ID) that prevents duplicate entries when importing overlapping date ranges.

Multi-Account Support

QFX files support bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts — each with their own message sets and transaction types.

Quicken-Specific Headers

QFX files begin with a header block that identifies the format version and encoding. These headers appear before the XML/SGML body and are specific to the OFX/QFX specification:

OFXHEADER:100
DATA:OFXSGML
VERSION:102
SECURITY:NONE
ENCODING:USASCII
CHARSET:1252
COMPRESSION:NONE
OLDFILEUID:NONE
NEWFILEUID:NONE

Header fields: OFXHEADER identifies the header version. DATA:OFXSGML indicates the body uses SGML syntax (version 1.x). Newer OFX 2.x files use XML instead. VERSION specifies the OFX specification version (102 = OFX 1.0.2).

QFX File Structure

After the headers, a QFX file contains SGML-based markup following the OFX specification. It includes a sign-on response, bank identification, and the transaction list. Here is a simplified example:

<OFX>
  <SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
    <SONRS>
      <STATUS>
        <CODE>0
        <SEVERITY>INFO
      </STATUS>
      <DTSERVER>20260215120000
      <LANGUAGE>ENG
      <FI>
        <ORG>MyBank
        <FID>12345
      </FI>
    </SONRS>
  </SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
  <BANKMSGSRSV1>
    <STMTTRNRS>
      <TRNUID>0
      <STATUS>
        <CODE>0
        <SEVERITY>INFO
      </STATUS>
      <STMTRS>
        <CURDEF>USD
        <BANKACCTFROM>
          <BANKID>999888777
          <ACCTID>123456789
          <ACCTTYPE>CHECKING
        </BANKACCTFROM>
        <BANKTRANLIST>
          <DTSTART>20260201
          <DTEND>20260215
          <STMTTRN>
            <TRNTYPE>DEBIT
            <DTPOSTED>20260203
            <TRNAMT>-45.99
            <FITID>20260203001
            <NAME>Office Supply Store
            <MEMO>Purchase - Card ending 4521
          </STMTTRN>
          <STMTTRN>
            <TRNTYPE>CREDIT
            <DTPOSTED>20260210
            <TRNAMT>1500.00
            <FITID>20260210001
            <NAME>Wire Transfer - ABC Corp
          </STMTTRN>
        </BANKTRANLIST>
        <LEDGERBAL>
          <BALAMT>8234.56
          <DTASOF>20260215
        </LEDGERBAL>
      </STMTRS>
    </STMTTRNRS>
  </BANKMSGSRSV1>
</OFX>

SGML vs XML: OFX 1.x (commonly used by QFX) uses SGML syntax where closing tags are optional. Notice how <TRNTYPE>DEBIT has no closing tag. OFX 2.x uses proper XML with mandatory closing tags. Both formats carry the same data — the difference is purely syntactic.

Compatible Software

QFX files are natively supported by Quicken, and their OFX-based structure means many other financial applications can read them as well:

Quicken

Simplifi, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business

QuickBooks®

Desktop & Online (rename to .qbo)

Microsoft Money

Plus, Deluxe, Sunset editions

GnuCash

All versions (open-source)

Moneydance

All versions

PrimeConnect

Free QFX to QBO converter

Tip: If your software doesn't recognize .qfx files, try renaming the extension to .ofx. The internal format is identical — the extension is the only difference between a QFX and OFX file.

How to Open & Convert QFX Files

While Quicken opens QFX files natively, QuickBooks® users need the file in .qbo format. PrimeConnect's free converter handles this conversion instantly:

Download your QFX file

Log into your bank's website and download transactions in QFX/Quicken format.

Upload to PrimeConnect

Open the QFX to QBO converter and drag-and-drop your .qfx file. 100% browser-based.

Review & download

Preview the parsed transactions, then download the converted .qbo file ready for QuickBooks®.

QFX vs QBO vs OFX

All three formats share the same OFX foundation but target different software ecosystems:

Feature	QFX	QBO	OFX
Full Name	Quicken Financial Exchange	QuickBooks® Web Connect	Open Financial Exchange
Based On	OFX standard	OFX standard	OFX standard (is the standard)
Primary Target	Quicken	QuickBooks®	Any financial software
File Extension	.qfx	.qbo	.ofx
Duplicate Detection	Yes (FITID)	Yes (FITID)	Yes (FITID)
Interchangeable	Rename to .ofx/.qbo	Rename to .ofx/.qfx	Rename to .qfx/.qbo

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