How to Import a Bank Statement into MYOB

MYOB bank statement import formats, the QIF and OFX options, and the Australian date conventions to watch.

MYOB is widely used in Australia and New Zealand, and its bank import accepts several formats with different trade-offs.

Format options

Format	Pros	Cons
QIF	Widely supported, simple	No standard date format — you tell MYOB which order the file uses
OFX	Includes account identification, and dates that cannot be misread	Check that your MYOB version lists it on the import screen
CSV	Easy to inspect	Requires manual column mapping

For a converted PDF statement, QIF is the usual choice, and the MYOB converter writes one: a dated, signed amount for every transaction, which is what MYOB's statement import needs.

The Australian date trap

MYOB will ask which date format a QIF uses, and QIF has nowhere to record it. The QIF from this site always writes dates month first, so answer MM/DD/YYYY — even in Australia, where your statement printed them day first.

Answer DD/MM/YYYY and 12/10/2020 becomes 12 October when the file means 10 December, with nothing to say so. A CSV is different: it keeps your bank's own date format, usually DD/MM/YYYY in Australia.

Reconciling

MYOB's reconciliation compares your recorded transactions against a statement closing balance you enter. Take that balance from the PDF, not from your converted file — the point is to check the file against the bank, and using the file's own figure defeats that.

Reconciling in MYOB

MYOB's reconciliation compares recorded transactions against a closing balance you enter, and flags the difference. Take the balance from the PDF.

Difference equals one transaction — missing or duplicated row
Difference is exactly double a transaction — imported twice, or the sign is wrong
Small odd difference — commonly a bank fee row that did not import
Everything is out by a large amount — usually the wrong period or the wrong account

Australian and New Zealand differences

MYOB is used in both countries with different bank feed availability and different account identifier formats — BSB plus account in Australia, bank-branch-account-suffix in New Zealand.

That identifier belongs in its own column rather than inside a description, for the same reason as anywhere else: it is a long numeric string sitting next to an amount parser.

Frequently asked questions

Which format should I use?

QIF, which MYOB's statement import expects: choose MM/DD/YYYY when MYOB asks. CSV works too if you would rather map the columns yourself.

What does it mean if the difference equals exactly one transaction?

That row is either missing from the import or was imported twice. Search for its amount in your ledger to find out which.

Does MYOB accept Excel?

Not for bank imports. Export to CSV.

Convert a statement now

Import Bank Statement to MYOB, or see every format. More in the guides.