Convert a bank statement PDF to QBO or CSV
Upload a PDF or scanned bank statement and LedgerBox writes the file QuickBooks asked for: a Web Connect QBO, or one of two CSV layouts. The input is always the statement document. This page is about the files; writing entries into a connected QuickBooks company is a separate thing, and it has its own page.
QuickBooks 3-column CSV · columns
3 columns
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Date - MM/DD/YYYY, the order QuickBooks reads.
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Description - The description as printed, collapsed onto one line.
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Amount - One signed amount, negative for money out.
Header row, as written
Date,Description,Amount
Merged across several documents
Date,Description,Amount
Approve a document, pick the file QuickBooks asked you for, and import it there. Downloading a QuickBooks file needs a paid subscription.
How to get the file
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Upload the statement
Any bank or card statement, digital or scanned. Balances are reconciled before the document is marked clean, so the rows you import are rows that added up.
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Pick the layout QuickBooks asked for
QuickBooks names the shape it wants during its own bank import: one amount column, or separate credit and debit columns. The 3-column and 4-column CSVs are those two shapes.
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Import it in QuickBooks
Upload the file through QuickBooks' own bank transaction import. A QBO file goes through Web Connect instead, which needs no column mapping at all.
Want the rows written into your books instead of a file to import? How the QuickBooks integration works
The other files this export writes
Depending on the document type, more than one file is on offer: QuickBooks 3-column CSV, QuickBooks 4-column CSV, and QuickBooks QBO. The ones with a fixed header row publish it; the ones whose columns come from the document type say what decides them, instead of printing a row that would be wrong for half the types.
QuickBooks 4-column CSV · columns
4 columns
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Date - MM/DD/YYYY, the order QuickBooks reads.
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Description - The description as printed, collapsed onto one line.
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Credit - Money in, blank on a row that is money out.
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Debit - Money out, positive, blank on a row that is money in.
Header row, as written
Date,Description,Credit,Debit
Merged across several documents
Date,Description,Credit,Debit
QuickBooks QBO
A Web Connect bank file for one account and one period.
Not a table either. It is an OFX file, the shape QuickBooks Web Connect reads: the account and the statement period are declared once, then one entry per transaction, each with a date, an amount, a type, and an id derived from the row so a repeated import matches instead of duplicating.
Worth knowing before you import
The quirks of a file are the part nobody writes down, and the part that costs an afternoon when it turns out to matter.
The 4-column CSV puts credit before debit
That is deliberate and it is what QuickBooks expects: the header row reads Date, Description, Credit, Debit, which is the reverse of the LedgerBox CSV's own debit-then-credit order. The column names are what your import mapping keys on, so neither one gets tidied.
A QBO file holds one account and one period
Web Connect files declare their account and statement period once, so there is nowhere to put a second statement. Every other export merges across a selection; this one exports a document at a time.
These files are not the QuickBooks integration
A file is something you import yourself. The integration writes journal entries into a connected company for you. They need different plans and different setup, and sending works on a free trial while downloading a QuickBooks file does not.
The input is a document, not a data file
LedgerBox reads PDFs and images. It does not read a CSV, a QBO, an OFX, a QFX, or a QIF and turn it into another one of those, in either direction. If you already have a CSV of transactions, there is nothing here for it to do: this converts the statement itself.
QuickBooks Online export FAQ
How do I convert a PDF bank statement to QBO?
Upload the statement PDF, review anything that came back flagged, approve it, and download the QBO. The file is a QuickBooks Web Connect bank file for that account and statement period, so it imports without any column mapping. Downloading a QuickBooks file needs a paid subscription.
Can LedgerBox convert a CSV to QBO?
No. LedgerBox converts documents, not data files: it reads PDFs and images and writes CSV, Excel, JSON, and QBO. It does not read a CSV, QBO, OFX, QFX, or QIF file. If you have the original statement PDF, upload that instead and download the QBO from it.
Which QuickBooks file should I download?
Whichever shape QuickBooks asks for during its bank import: the 3-column CSV has Date, Description, Amount with one signed figure, and the 4-column CSV has Date, Description, Credit, Debit. A QBO file goes in through Web Connect and needs no mapping.
What is the difference between a QuickBooks file and the QuickBooks integration?
The file is one you import yourself. The integration is a connection to your QuickBooks company, where approved documents post as balanced journal entries to QuickBooks Online. Different plans, different setup, and the integration page covers it in full.
Can I import several statements in one QBO file?
No. A Web Connect file declares a single account and a single statement period, so it exports one document at a time. The two QuickBooks CSV layouts do merge across a selection, and gain a leading source_document column when they do.
See the columns on your own documents.
Upload a document and download the export in under a minute. No card required.
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