Import IIF File into QuickBooks Desktop Without Errors

To import an IIF file into QuickBooks Desktop without errors, back up the company file, sign in as the admin in single-user mode, check that every account named in the file already exists, then go to File, Utilities, Import, Import IIF. If records fail, open the error file QuickBooks creates, fix each ERROR line and import it again.

What is an IIF file, and what does QuickBooks Desktop use it for?

An IIF file is a text file in the Intuit Interchange Format, a layout QuickBooks Desktop reads to bring in lists and transactions in bulk. QuickBooks Desktop uses it for data such as the chart of accounts, customers, vendors and items, and for transactions such as checks, deposits, credit card charges and journal entries. It is a Desktop format.

Intuit's article Export, import, and edit IIF files lists what IIF can carry. Lists include the chart of accounts, employees, vendor types, items, customers and jobs, vendors, payment terms, budgets and price levels. Transactions include account beginning balances, checks, deposits, invoices, vendor bills, credit card transactions, journal entries and purchase orders.

Transactions only travel one way. The same article says you can import transactions with IIF but you cannot export them from QuickBooks. Lists can go both ways.

The article also lists limits worth knowing before building a file:

Importing IIF does not link transactions. An imported invoice and its payment have to be linked afterward in Receive Payments or Pay Bills.
Custom field data on assembly items cannot be imported.
Price levels set up per item cannot be exported or imported.
IIF files cannot move between country versions of QuickBooks.

Intuit also states that it does not offer technical support for importing and exporting IIF files. If the file came from another application, that application's support team is the place to ask.

IIF is one of several ways into Desktop. The post on which file types QuickBooks Desktop takes for bank transactions compares it with Web Connect files and batch entry.

IIF header rows and the TRNS, SPL and ENDTRNS lines

An IIF transaction file starts with header rows that begin with an exclamation point and name the columns, followed by data rows that fill them. Each transaction is a TRNS line for the first side, one or more SPL lines for the other side, and an ENDTRNS line that closes it. The first column of every row holds the keyword.

Intuit's article IIF Overview: import kit, sample files, and headers sets the rules. File headers sit in rows that begin with an exclamation point. The first column in a header must contain a keyword. A transaction file usually has three header lines in the first three rows, beginning !TRNS, !SPL and !ENDTRNS.

Spelling and placement matter. The article says correct spelling and placement of the headers are required to prevent errors, though not every possible header is needed for a transaction to import.

In Intuit's check example, the header names the columns TRNSTYPE, DATE, ACCNT, NAME, CLASS and AMOUNT. The TRNS line posts the check to the bank account as -70. Two SPL lines post 10 and 60 to two expense accounts. The SPL amounts carry the opposite sign and the lines add up to zero.

A minimal IIF file for two bank transactions

This file follows the layout of Intuit's check sample. Every name, account and amount is fictional, for the example firm client Example Bakery Inc. The CLASS column is left out, since not every header is required. Columns are separated by tabs.

!TRNS	TRNSTYPE	DATE	ACCNT	NAME	AMOUNT
!SPL	TRNSTYPE	DATE	ACCNT	NAME	AMOUNT
!ENDTRNS
TRNS	CHECK	3/4/2026	Checking XXXX-4821	Example Power Co	-182.40
SPL	CHECK	3/4/2026	Utilities		182.40
ENDTRNS
TRNS	CHECK	3/9/2026	Checking XXXX-4821	Example Office Supply	-96.15
SPL	CHECK	3/9/2026	Office Supplies		96.15
ENDTRNS

Read it line by line:

!TRNS names the columns for each transaction's first line: type, date, account, payee name and amount.
!SPL names the columns for the split lines. Here they match the TRNS columns.
!ENDTRNS is the header for the closing line. It has no columns.
The first TRNS line records a check dated March 4, 2026, drawn on the checking account, paid to Example Power Co, for -182.40.
The first SPL line sends 182.40 to the Utilities account. The name column is left empty.
ENDTRNS closes the first transaction.
The second TRNS, SPL and ENDTRNS lines repeat the pattern for a $96.15 check to Example Office Supply on March 9.

The account names in the ACCNT column must already exist. Intuit's overview article says to create every account in the file before importing, because a missing account will be created as a new bank account. A typo like "Utilites" would leave a new bank account called Utilites in the chart.

Excel can damage a file while you edit it. Intuit's IIF article says you cannot enter numbers with leading zeros in Excel when creating an import file, and suggests formatting those cells as Custom. When you save an IIF edited in Excel, the article says to choose Don't Save at the second prompt on exit.

Backing up the company file before an IIF import

Backing up the company file before an IIF import gives you a way back if the file brings in the wrong data. Incorrect data can import without any error at all, and a backup taken minutes before the import is the cleanest way to reverse it. Restoring it loses only the work done since.

Intuit's IIF article says it plainly: back up your company file before you import IIF files. It adds two access rules. Sign in to the company file as an admin, and if the file is in multi-user mode, switch to single-user mode first from the File menu.

The reason is the error checking. Intuit's overview article says IIF imports provide only limited error checking, and that an incorrect format may lead to an error or to data that imports incorrectly with no error. It tells you to check the data carefully after every import.

Silent problems look like this. An account name in the file that is not in the chart of accounts creates a new bank account, as the overview article warns, and the import does not stop to ask. Only a review of the register and chart of accounts after import shows it, and a backup is the clean way back.

A test run lowers the risk further. Restore the backup as a separate test company, import the file there, and check the results before touching the real file.

The import steps

Intuit's IIF article gives these steps for QuickBooks Desktop for Windows:

Sign in to the company file as an admin.
Go to the File menu, then select Utilities.
Select Import, then select Import IIF.
Select the IIF file, then select Open.
Select OK to confirm the import.

On a Mac, the article gives the path as File, Import, From IIF Files.

What does the QuickBooks IIF import error report mean?

The QuickBooks IIF import error report is the summary and error file that QuickBooks Desktop 2019 and later produce when some records in an IIF file fail. The summary shows how many records imported and how many failed. The error file is a new IIF file of only the failed records, marked ERROR, ready to fix.

Intuit's article Improved IIF Import in QuickBooks 2019 and later describes the tool. It scans the file for errors before importing, reports how many items imported or failed, and automatically creates a new IIF file for failed records with the error information.

When records fail, a File not imported window appears with three choices: Review now, Open in folder and Close. To fix the file:

Select Review now to open the error file.
Search for ERROR to find each problem line.
Correct each flagged line and save the file.
Close the File not imported window.
Import the corrected file.

Intuit also notes a choice at the file-selection step labelled "Import it for me. I'll fix it later", and says it does not recommend it. That option also requires single-user mode, while the newer tool otherwise works in multi-user mode.

Most fixes come back to the layout rules. A misspelled header, an account name that does not match the chart of accounts, or a transaction whose lines do not add up are the first things to check against the overview article's rules. The article on improved import gives no list of error messages, so read each ERROR description in the file itself.

After a clean import, compare totals. Add up the imported checks for the period and compare the sum with the bank statement before you call the job done.

When an IIF file is the wrong tool for bank data

An IIF file is the wrong tool for bank data when the bank offers a Web Connect download, or when the firm uses QuickBooks Accountant or Enterprise and can paste rows through Batch Enter Transactions. Both routes are documented for bank transactions, and Web Connect rows get add-or-match review. IIF suits data with no simpler route.

A bank's Web Connect file goes through the Bank Feeds Center, where QuickBooks tries to match each row to an entry already in the register. Intuit's IIF import steps have no review screen like that, so a check already entered by hand can end up twice. The Desktop import post linked above covers both other routes step by step.

IIF suits other data better. A full year of journal entries from an outside payroll report, or a chart of accounts for a new company file, has no bank download to come from. Ledgers and statements of that kind are covered in the financial statements and ledgers category.

Intuit's IIF guides cover QuickBooks Desktop. A client on QuickBooks Online uses its upload screen for bank files instead; for card accounts, see how to upload a credit card statement to QuickBooks Online. Firms with Xero clients have a separate route, covered in how to import bank statements into Xero.

Wherever the data ends up, the source rows have to be right first. Schema CPA reads the statements and ledgers a client sends, flags a document that arrives twice, and exports the figures to Excel or CSV, which a firm can then shape into an IIF file; it does not write IIF or connect to QuickBooks. The workflow section of the homepage shows those steps.