Quicken does not read PDF statements. It imports transactions from a QFX Web Connect file, the kind a bank gives you when you choose "download for Quicken". When the PDF is all you have, you need to turn it into that file, check it, and import it carefully. Here is the honest version, including where Quicken itself draws the line.
First, try to avoid converting at all
Sign in to online banking and look in the transaction history for a download option named Quicken, QFX or Web Connect, and choose the dates you need. A bank-issued QFX carries the bank's real institution code and the transactions straight from its records, so there is nothing to misread and nothing for Quicken to object to. If the bank offers Quicken's direct connection for your account, that is better still.
Conversion is for the cases the bank cannot help with: periods older than its download window, an account that has been closed, or a statement someone else sent you as a PDF. If you are not sure QFX is the right file, the comparison of QBO, QFX, OFX and QIF explains what each one is for.
What Quicken says about converted files
Read this before paying anyone for a conversion. Quicken's Web Connect troubleshooting help says QFX files produced by third-party conversion software are not supported. In practice, people do import converted files, but if one is refused, Quicken's support will not treat it as their problem.
That has two consequences. First, test before you commit: import a short statement or a fictional sample into a new, empty account and look at the result. Second, keep a fallback: the same transactions as QIF or OFX, which some Quicken versions accept through other menus. Sonomir's QFX layout was compared with a bank-issued QFX file, but imports into Quicken itself have not yet been tested and recorded, so this guide does not promise that your installed version will accept it.
Step 1: convert the PDF and check the rows
- Upload the statement to the PDF to QFX converter. A text PDF from online banking, a scan or photos of the pages all work; photos uploaded together are treated as one statement.
- Read the result on the page. The tool checks opening balance plus money in minus money out against the closing balance, and every printed running balance against the row before.
- Compare the row count, the first and last transactions, one payment and one deposit with the statement. A passing balance check means the amounts agree with the printed balances; a wrong date or a misread reference can still pass.
- Download the QFX file. Do not open it in Excel or a word processor before importing; that can change the file.
Card and loan statements are written as credit-card accounts, with purchases negative and payments positive. Everything else is written as a checking account. If one PDF covers two accounts, convert each separately.
Step 2: import the QFX into Quicken
Quicken for Windows:
- Choose File → File Import → Web Connect File, select the .qfx file and choose OK.
- When asked, link the download to an existing account or create a new one.
- Do not set the account up for online banking with the institution Quicken names. Accept the transactions in the register.
Quicken for Mac:
- Choose File → Import → Bank or Brokerage File (OFX, QFX) and select the file.
- On the Choose Your Accounts screen, pick the account to import into, or add a new one.
A PDF has no institution code of its own, so the file carries 3000, the code used in Wells Fargo's Web Connect files. Quicken may show Wells Fargo as the bank. It is only a label: link the transactions to your own account, and nothing is sent to or from Wells Fargo.
Import into a new or empty account first if you can. Compare the ending balance with the statement, then move the transactions to their permanent account.
If Quicken refuses the file
- Transactions land in the wrong account. Quicken matched the file to an account already linked to the same bank code. Import again and choose the account by hand.
- "No new transactions." Quicken already has every transaction ID in the file, usually because the same file was imported before. Each transaction's ID stays the same however often you download the same converted result, which is what stops it duplicating.
- OL-221 or similar Web Connect errors. Quicken's support links OL-221 to the computer's date and time settings. Correct the clock and import again.
- The file is refused outright. Use the QIF download from the same result. Convert a PDF bank statement to QIF explains the format: dates are written month/day/year with a four-digit year, so answer "month first" if Quicken asks. Which account types accept QIF has changed between Quicken versions, so check yours. Quicken for Mac also accepts plain OFX through the same import menu, and PDF to OFX writes that.
Is there a free converter that can convert PDFs to QFX format?
Fully free routes are rare. The bank's own QFX download is free when it covers your dates. Most PDF-to-QFX converters are paid, by subscription or per file, and trials are limited: ProperSoft's comparison page, for example, says its trial writes only the first 10 transactions.
Here, reading and checking the first two pages a day is free, so you can see whether your statement converts correctly before paying anything. A statement that fits inside the free pages pays only for the QFX download: $0.10 (2 credits), once per result. For a longer statement, each page beyond the free two is $0.25 at the $5-pack rate, and the QFX, QIF, OFX, CSV and Excel downloads are then all included. A typical three-page statement with today's free pages unused costs $0.25. The smallest credit pack is $3, credits never expire, and there is no subscription.
If you convert dozens of statements every month, a subscription converter will cost less per page, and ProperSoft runs on your own computer so files never leave it. Sonomir suits the occasional statement you need to check before importing.
Questions
- Can Quicken import a PDF bank statement?
- No. Quicken imports Web Connect (QFX) files and, depending on version, QIF or OFX. A PDF has to be converted first.
- Is there a free converter that can convert PDFs to QFX format?
- The bank's own QFX download is free when it covers your dates. Here the first two pages a day are read and checked free; a statement inside them pays $0.10 for the QFX file.
- Will Quicken accept a QFX file made from a PDF?
- Possibly, but Quicken officially does not support third-party converted QFX files, and Sonomir's file has not yet passed a recorded Quicken import. Test in an empty account first.
- Why does Quicken show Wells Fargo for my converted file?
- A PDF has no bank code, so the file carries 3000, Wells Fargo's code. Link it to your own account and do not set up online banking with Wells Fargo for it.
- Can I convert a credit card statement to QFX?
- Yes. Card statements are written as credit-card accounts, with purchases negative and payments positive. Check the signs in Quicken after importing.