PDF to IIF Converter Online Free: Convert PDF to IIF File
Ask how to convert a PDF to IIF and the usual answer is two jobs: PDF to CSV, then CSV to IIF. Here it is one. Drop a bank or credit card statement PDF, typed or scanned, and download an .iif for QuickBooks Desktop's File > Utilities > Import, every entry balanced and every account it uses declared at the top. Each page is counted once.
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No CSV in between
Bank statement PDF to IIF in one pass, with no CSV in the middle. A 10-page statement uses 10 pages, once.
Written to QuickBooks' import rules
Accounts declared with their types, entries that balance, names cut to 41 characters with the full text in the memo, plain text with Windows line endings.
Transfers kept out of income
Card bill payments and moves between your own accounts post to Transfers Clearing, not to Income or Expenses.
How to convert PDF to IIF in three steps
Get the PDF statement
Download it from online banking, or scan the paper copy. Typed PDFs, scans and phone photos all work, and a locked PDF asks for its password.
Upload the PDF
Drag the statement onto the box at the top of the page, or click the box to pick it. PDF, PNG or JPG up to 25MB.
Set the options, download the .iif
Match the date format to Windows, add your own account names if you use them, and download. In QuickBooks Desktop: File > Utilities > Import > IIF Files.
One step from PDF to IIF: the file, line by line
Search for a PDF to IIF converter and Google says it takes two steps, PDF to CSV and then CSV to IIF. Here it is one. These are the lines this converter wrote for three rows of a bank statement, unedited.
On the PDF statement
- 02 Mar 2026Salary March – ACME Ltée+45,000.00
- 04 Mar 2026Cheque paid · No. 004512−12,500.00
- 09 Mar 2026Transfer to savings 4471−5,000.00
Top of the .iif: the accounts
| !ACCNT | NAME | ACCNTTYPE |
| ACCNT | Bank Account | BANK |
| ACCNT | Expenses | EXP |
| ACCNT | Income | INC |
| ACCNT | Transfers Clearing | OCASSET |
Then the entries, as written
| TRNSTYPE | DATE | ACCNT | NAME | AMOUNT | DOCNUM | MEMO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRNS | DEPOSIT | 02/03/2026 | Bank Account | SALARY MARCH - ACME LTEE | 45000.00 | ||
| SPL | DEPOSIT | 02/03/2026 | Income | -45000.00 | |||
| ENDTRNS | |||||||
| TRNS | CHECK | 04/03/2026 | Bank Account | CHEQUE PAID | -12500.00 | 004512 | Chq 004512 |
| SPL | CHECK | 04/03/2026 | Expenses | 12500.00 | |||
| ENDTRNS | |||||||
| TRNS | CHECK | 09/03/2026 | Bank Account | TRANSFER TO SAVINGS 4471 | -5000.00 | ||
| SPL | CHECK | 09/03/2026 | Transfers Clearing | 5000.00 | |||
| ENDTRNS | |||||||
Swipe the table to see every column.
Each TRNS line and its SPL line carry the same amount with opposite signs, so every entry adds up to zero.
Accounts first
Every account the entries use is declared at the top with its type, before anything refers to it.
Your date order
Day-first here because the Date format box said DD/MM. Set it to match Windows.
Cheque number twice
In DOCNUM, and again in the memo: QuickBooks gives an imported cheque its own next number.
Plain text
The dash and the É became - and E, which QuickBooks can read. Left as they were, they import as "?".
Before you import the IIF file into QuickBooks Desktop
An IIF import cannot be undone, and QuickBooks 2018 and earlier do not review the file first. Six things to settle before you click Import.
Back up the company file
Intuit's first instruction for any IIF import. There is no undo, so the backup is the undo.
Admin, in single-user mode
Sign in as the admin user and switch to single-user mode before File > Utilities > Import > IIF Files.
Match the Windows date format
QuickBooks reads dates the way Windows writes them. One user's file was refused until 09/01/17 became 2017/09/01. Pick the same order in the Date format box.
2018 and earlier: no review
QuickBooks 2019 and later scan the file and list rows they could not import. Older versions post it at once, so try one month first.
One import per file
QuickBooks does not check for duplicates. A file imported twice, or two statements that overlap, puts the same rows in twice.
Names and cheque numbers
Each description is added to your Name list, and imported cheques take the next number in QuickBooks. The bank's number stays in the memo.
What stands between a PDF statement and QuickBooks Desktop
QuickBooks Desktop has no PDF import
Intuit lists Excel, CSV, IIF and .QBO as the files Desktop takes, so to convert PDF to QuickBooks Desktop the statement has to become one of them first. A community thread asking for PDF import has run since 2018.
Intuit does not support IIF imports
Intuit's own help says it does not offer technical support for importing or exporting IIF files. When an import goes wrong there is no one to call, so the file has to be right before it reaches QuickBooks.
Scans can cost extra elsewhere
One forum answer warns that scanned statements need a higher tier of a paid tool. Here a scan or a phone photo is converted on the same plan as a typed PDF.
US and Canadian files do not mix
Intuit says an IIF made for one country's QuickBooks will not import into another country's. Pick Canada as the QuickBooks version and withdrawals are written the Canadian way.
Where each statement row lands in QuickBooks
Bank statement or credit card statement to IIF, every row becomes one balanced entry. This is the transaction type it is written as and the account its other side posts to when you leave the account boxes empty.
| On your statement | Written as | Other side posts to |
|---|---|---|
| Money out of a bank account | Written as: CHECK | Expenses |
| A cheque you wrote | Written as: CHECK, number in DOCNUM and memo | Expenses |
| Money into a bank account | Written as: DEPOSIT | Income |
| A transfer between your own accounts | Written as: CHECK or DEPOSIT | Transfers Clearing |
| A card purchase, fee or interest | Written as: CREDIT CARD | Expenses |
| A card refund | Written as: CCARD REFUND | Income |
| Your payment to the card | Written as: CCARD REFUND | Transfers Clearing |
Transfers are kept out of Income and Expenses on purpose. Paying a card bill is neither: import the bank statement and the card statement, and both sides land in Transfers Clearing and cancel out. Type your own name in Destination account and every row posts there instead. Choose Canada as the QuickBooks version and withdrawals are written as CHEQUE.
Who turns PDF statements into IIF files
A retired QuickBooks version
Online banking stops when Intuit retires a version, so nothing downloads any more. Each monthly PDF becomes an IIF you import from File > Utilities.
Banks that only send PDFs
Plenty of smaller banks, and many outside the US, offer no download at all. Convert the PDF statement instead of typing it in.
Statements from outside the US
Day-first dates, accents and local currencies. Set DD/MM before you download, and Société arrives as Societe rather than a row of question marks.
Catching up a year of books
Twelve statements, twelve files. Import one month, check the register against the PDF, then do the rest.
Accountants who code later
Type a suspense account in Destination account and every row posts there, ready to recode, instead of Expenses and Income.
Scans and phone photos
Scanned pages and photos are read the same way as a downloaded PDF, on the same plan.
IIF or QBO: which file your QuickBooks Desktop should get
Both are QuickBooks Desktop imports from the same PDF. If your version still has online banking and you like matching rows in Bank Feeds, the PDF to QBO converter is the one to use.
| .qbo (Web Connect) | .iif (this page) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you import it | .qbo: File > Utilities > Import > Web Connect Files | .iif: File > Utilities > Import > IIF Files |
| On a retired version | .qbo: Intuit ends downloading and uploading bank transactions when a version is retired | .iif: Intuit's retirement notices do not mention IIF import |
| Before rows post | .qbo: They wait in Bank Feeds for you to match or add | .iif: 2019 and later scan the file first; 2018 and earlier post it at once |
| Which account a row hits | .qbo: You choose, row by row, in Bank Feeds | .iif: Set in the file: Expenses, Income, Transfers Clearing or your own account |
| QuickBooks Online | .qbo: Upload from file accepts it | .iif: Not accepted |
Same statement, Web Connect file: the PDF to QBO converter.
Frequently Asked Questions — PDF to IIF Converter
QCan you import PDF bank statements into QuickBooks Desktop?
QDoes converting PDF to IIF take two steps?
QHow to import IIF file into QuickBooks Desktop?
QCan I convert a scanned bank statement to IIF?
QIs there a free PDF to IIF converter online?
QWhat is the best PDF to IIF converter online?
QHow do I import bank statements into QuickBooks Desktop?
QDoes QuickBooks Online support IIF files?
QWhy does QuickBooks say the account does not exist?
QWill a US IIF file import into QuickBooks Desktop Canada?
QDoes IIF import work in QuickBooks for Mac?
QWhat does an IIF file look like inside?
QHow to create an IIF file for QuickBooks Desktop?
Other Conversion Formats
Start with one month
Back up the company file, convert one statement and import it. When the register matches the PDF, convert the rest. Need the same rows as a spreadsheet? The bank statement converter gives CSV or Excel, and every other format is on the converters page.