OFX is the statement file almost every online bank exports. Importing it lets Finances know every bank transaction: what was already recorded is recognized, and what was missing becomes an already-paid expense or income. At the end, the system compares the app balance with the bank's.
Marina downloaded September's statement for her Nubank Checking Account. It has 64 transactions, and she had already recorded the rent and two purchases by hand.
1. Upload the file
In the menu, go to Imports › Import OFX and drag the file in. Accepted files are .ofx, .qfx and .qbo up to 10 MB. The system reads the statement and shows bank, account, currency, period, statement balance and number of transactions.
If you upload the same file again, a notice appears. You can go ahead: transactions already imported are not repeated.
2. Choose the target account
In Target account, pick the Finances account that matches the statement. If it does not exist yet, use Create new account. The system suggests an initial balance calculated so that, after the import, the account balance matches the statement exactly.
A credit card statement goes to the card account. Purchases go into the statements by the card's cycle, as if you had recorded them by hand.
3. Classify the transactions
The table lists each transaction with date, description and amount. In the type column you choose what it becomes:
- Expense or Income — becomes an entry already paid on the transaction date, in the chosen account. Also pick the category; if you leave it uncategorized, you can classify it later by editing the entry.
- Transfer (ignore) — money between your own accounts. It does not become an expense or income, so it does not inflate reports, and it does not come back in a later import.
- Skip — left out of this import.
To avoid going row by row, select several transactions and use Apply action... to set the type or category for all of them at once. Marina selects the 12 grocery purchases and applies the Food category in one click.
The badges help you decide:
- Already imported — the same transaction came in before, so it is set to be skipped. Statements that overlap earlier imports show a notice with how many were pre-skipped.
- Possible duplicate — there is an entry with the same amount on a nearby date in this account. Check it: if it is the rent Marina recorded by hand, she picks Skip.
- Transfer? — looks like money moving between your accounts. It is only a suggestion.
- Card credit, Zero amount and Future date — cases worth a look before importing.
4. Check the balance
The Balance reconciliation panel shows the App balance, the Bank balance and the Difference. The balance mode decides what the import does to the account balance:
- Recent statement (move balance) — imported entries change the balance, like any payment. This is the normal choice for the current month's statement.
- Past period (keep balance) — for an old statement whose movements are already reflected in today's balance. Entries only go into the history, and the current balance does not change. The system picks this mode on its own when the account already has entries after the end of the statement.
In recent mode, if no row was skipped, you can ask to create an adjustment entry so the app balance equals the bank's. With rows left out, or with a statement that is not the most recent, reconciliation is only informative. For credit cards it is informative too: the statement is what counts.
5. Import
The import button shows how many entries will come in. The result shows how many were imported, how many were transfers, how many were skipped and whether there were errors. The import also shows up in Imports history.
Where this shows up in the rest of the system
- Expenses and Income — receive the already-paid entries.
- Bank Accounts — the account's statement now has the bank's transactions, and the adjustment if you asked for it.
- Card statements — purchases from a card statement go into the right cycle.
- Reports and Budget — now count what came from the bank, by the chosen category.
Where to go next
- Accounts and transfers (personal) — add the account before importing and check its statement afterwards.
- Categories — having the tree ready makes bulk classification faster.
- Data import, in this collection — bring entries in from a spreadsheet.
In short: upload the OFX, choose the account, classify transactions in bulk, skip duplicates and transfers, check the balance mode and import. What was missing becomes a paid entry, and the app balance matches the bank's.