Import a Bank Statement Into Banktivity (Mac)

Why Banktivity won't import your PDF

Banktivity keeps your money in account registers on the Mac and iPhone, and it fills them either through its Direct Access download service or by importing a file you supply. The file side reads OFX, QFX, QIF, the older Quicken Mac transfer format, and CSV. What it will not take is a PDF, because a statement PDF is a document to read, not transactions to post to a register. So a bank Direct Access cannot reach, or a stretch of older history, leaves you holding a file Banktivity cannot open. Converting that PDF to an OFX turns it into transactions the app imports into the register in a single pass.

File, Import Transactions and the import-into account

On the Mac, the path is File, then Import Transactions. Pick the converted file, and before you click Import, check the import-into dropdown at the top of the import window to be sure the transactions are headed for the right account, which is the step people most often miss. Banktivity then reads the file and stages the transactions for that account. The iOS app imports the same OFX, QFX, QIF, and CSV files as well. Because a converted statement comes out clean, the import is a quick confirmation rather than a fight with a malformed download.

Which format to convert to

Banktivity ranks the formats for you. It points to OFX, QFX, and QIF as the ones to prefer when a bank offers them, because they hold the fullest transaction detail and need almost no setup, and it treats CSV as the choice for when nothing else is available. The reason is structure: a CSV is delimited text with no agreed meaning for its columns, while an OFX already knows a field is a date or an amount. So aim a conversion at OFX and keep CSV in reserve. Converting the PDF straight to OFX hands Banktivity its preferred file and sidesteps the column-labeling step entirely.

Labeling the columns of a CSV

When you do import a CSV, Banktivity prompts you to assign a label to each column in the file, telling it which one is the date, which is the description, and which is the amount. Getting those labels right is what makes the import land correctly, since a CSV carries no built-in meaning for its columns. A converted file helps by coming out with clean, clearly ordered columns and a header row, so labeling them is a quick confirmation rather than guesswork. Once the columns are labeled and the account is set, the transactions import the same as a structured file would.

Direct Access vs file import, and privacy

Banktivity's automatic route is Direct Access, IGG's paid service that refreshes accounts on a schedule, and it also lists Manual or Web Downloads when you add an account. File import sits behind all of that for the cases they miss: an institution the service cannot link, an account you set up without a connection, or transactions older than a refresh reaches. A converted statement is what makes that manual route usable. And since the file carries genuine account activity, it is built into the OFX or CSV and then deleted on its own, leaving nothing on a server, so the imported transactions rest only inside your Banktivity document.

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