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PayPal CSV to QBO for QuickBooks

In short: PayPal's activity download has separate Gross, Fee and Net columns, date and time in separate columns, three rows for a currency conversion, and holds that never change your balance. A .qbo file is Intuit's Web Connect format: an OFX bank statement that also carries an Intuit bank identifier (INTU.BID). QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop read it without a column-mapping step. Drop the file below. It is converted on your device and never uploaded.

Convert your file

PayPal to QuickBooks (.qbo Web Connect)

Download.CSV from PayPal Activity > Download

Your file stays on this device

It is read and converted by this page, inside your browser. Nothing from the file is uploaded, and the converter keeps working offline once the page has loaded.

One email when it ships. The address is used for nothing else. Details.

1. Export the file from PayPal

  1. Sign in to PayPal on a computer and open Activity.
  2. Click the Download icon (or go to Reports > Activity download).
  3. Choose a date range of up to 12 months and the CSV format.
  4. Pick "Balance affecting" transactions if you are offered the choice.
  5. Download the file (large reports are emailed) and upload it here.

Why a raw PayPal export fails in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop

The PayPal activity download is a CSV, not a bank statement file. To keep PayPal as its own account in QuickBooks, Quicken or Xero, each payment has to become a statement line in one currency, with the PayPal fee on its own line.

QuickBooks cannot read a payment app CSV as a .qbo file, and renaming the file does not help. A .qbo file needs the OFX statement structure, an account type that matches the QuickBooks account you upload into, and an Intuit bank identifier.

What is unusual about the PayPal file

  • Columns can be added or removed in PayPal, so we read them by name.
  • Date and number formats follow your PayPal country (for example 01/31/2025 and 1,234.56 in the US, 31/01/2025 and 1.234,56 in Europe).
  • Fees are negative and Net is Gross plus Fee.
  • A purchase in another currency appears as three rows (the payment and two "General Currency Conversion" rows); each currency is its own balance.
  • Holds and their releases, and "Memo" rows, do not change your balance and are left out.
  • The file may start with an invisible byte-order mark.
  • Headers are translated if your PayPal is not in English; switch to English before downloading.

What QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop requires

  • OFX 1.0.2 SGML file carrying an Intuit bank id (INTU.BID 3000, a bank Intuit's published list shows as active for Web Connect).
  • QuickBooks US needs US dollars; QuickBooks Canada takes CAD or USD with bank id 2.
  • QuickBooks Online: up to 1,000 transactions and 350 KB per upload (we split bigger files between days where possible).
  • Each transaction id is built from its date, amount, description and platform id, so the same row in two overlapping exports gets the same id.
  • Credit card accounts must be exported with account type "credit card".
  • QuickBooks Desktop only imports Web Connect in its supported (recent) releases.

2. Before and after

Before: the PayPal activity CSV as downloaded

"Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Shipping A...
"03/30/2025","18:22:05","PDT","","General Withdrawal","Completed","USD","-1,000.00","0.00","-1,000.00","seller@example.com","","9WD00000TEST0010","...
"03/28/2025","09:01:12","PDT","Sample Hosting Co","PreApproved Payment Bill User Payment","Completed","EUR","-20.00","0.00","-20.00","","","9WD0000...
"03/28/2025","09:01:12","PDT","","General Currency Conversion","Completed","USD","-21.84","0.00","-21.84","","","9WD00000TEST0008","","","","","","...
"03/28/2025","09:01:12","PDT","","General Currency Conversion","Completed","EUR","20.00","0.00","20.00","","","9WD00000TEST0007","","","","","","",...
"03/20/2025","14:10:00","PDT","Casey Buyerperson","Payment Refund","Completed","USD","-50.00","1.20","-48.80","","casey@example.com","9WD00000TEST0...
"03/18/2025","11:00:00","PDT","Sample Hardware Store","Account Hold for Open Authorization","Pending","USD","-1.58","0.00","-1.58","","","9WD00000T...
"03/18/2025","11:05:00","PDT","Sample Hardware Store","Reversal of General Account Hold","Completed","USD","1.58","0.00","1.58","","","9WD00000TEST...
"03/12/2025","8:15:30","PDT","Casey Buyerperson","Shopping Cart Item","Completed","USD","50.00","0.00","50.00","","","9WD00000TEST0003","","","Prin...

After: what QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop receives

...
<STMTTRN>
<TRNTYPE>CREDIT</TRNTYPE>
<DTPOSTED>20250302120000</DTPOSTED>
<TRNAMT>1250.00</TRNAMT>
<FITID>22B0EAEC98E76955G</FITID>
<NAME>Riley Clientname</NAME>
<MEMO>Riley Clientname - MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months, then $6.99 / Month</MEMO>
</STMTTRN>
<STMTTRN>
<TRNTYPE>DEBIT</TRNTYPE>
<DTPOSTED>20250302120000</DTPOSTED>
<TRNAMT>-46.73</TRNAMT>
<FITID>22B0EAEC98E76955F</FITID>
<NAME>Fee</NAME>
<MEMO>Fee: Riley Clientname - MONTHLY - $1 for the first 2 Months, then $6.99 / Month</MEMO>
</STMTTRN>
...

Synthetic sample data that follows the real export layout, not a real account. The "after" output was produced from it by the same converter this page runs.

3. Import the converted file into QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop

  1. QuickBooks Online: go to Transactions > Bank transactions, click Link account (or Update) > Upload from file.
  2. Choose this .qbo file, pick the QuickBooks account to put it in, and click Continue.
  3. QuickBooks Desktop: File > Utilities > Import > Web Connect Files, choose the file, then pick or create the account.
  4. Review the transactions under For review and add or match them.

Questions

Should I download "Balance affecting" or "All transactions"?
Pick balance affecting if you are offered the choice. Either way, the converter leaves out holds, their releases and Memo rows, because they do not change your PayPal balance.
What does "QuickBooks is unable to verify the financial institution" mean?
It is commonly reported when the bank identifier (INTU.BID) inside a .qbo file is missing or not one QuickBooks recognizes. Files from this converter use 3000, an id listed as active for Web Connect in Intuit's published bank list. Intuit does not document exactly how QuickBooks Online checks the id.
How are PayPal fees handled?
By default each payment is written as the gross amount plus a separate fee line, so the fee can go to a merchant fees expense account and the running balance still matches PayPal. Choose "Net amount only" in the options for one line per payment.
Should I use .qbo or the QuickBooks Online CSV?
For QuickBooks Desktop, use .qbo: Web Connect is how Desktop brings in bank transactions. For QuickBooks Online either works. The .qbo file skips the column-mapping step, and each transaction carries an id built from its date, amount, description and platform id, so the same row converted from two overlapping exports gets the same id.

Other ways to convert PayPal

Other exports to QuickBooks (.qbo Web Connect)

Common import problems