Splasm Software Discussions

I can't seem to get my banks qif files to import correctly.
I am trying to get the lines marked with "P" to import into a type area:
!Type:Bank
D08/29/2005
T64.19
PXFER/OLB TRANSFER FROM 0000000001770000
C*
^
just an example.. I removed part of the account number..

Thanks Glenn Thomas Kirkland WA.

First, the lines that start with "P" are QIF "Payees". Knowing that helps figure out the next step...

Right after you choose the file you would like to import you should see an Import Options window. Toward the bottom of the window you'll find three "Swap Options", which allow you to rearrange the incoming QIF Categories, Payees and Memos into more appropriate CheckBook fields, ie. Type, To/From and Description. To get the incoming QIF Payees to populate CheckBook's Type field you can set "Import Payees as:" to "Types". Give that a shot and let us know how it works out.

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

That was fast.. how does the import command suppose to handle the data after the slash in the qif file. in the example I had above?

like:
!Type:Bank
D08/29/2005
T64.19
PXFER/OLB TRANSFER FROM 00000000017700004621677
C*
^
I got that the "P" is the type of transaction, but
the information after the slash above is more like the description of what the item is. Is it possible to get the "PXFER" into the TYPE and the /OLB Transfer from into the Description? or do I need to edit the file to do that?

Alas, it's not possible to divide the contents of a single line into multiple CheckBook fields. You would need to edit these transactions by hand, either in TextEdit before importing or in CheckBook after importing. That's an interesting facility to consider, though. It's good to know that's something our users are looking for!

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

If I hand edit the file what would I need to add to the text file to achive what I am looking for?

You can move the part you would like to be in the Description field to a new line right below the 'P' line, and make sure the new line begins with an 'M' like this:

D08/29/2005
T64.19
PXFER
MOLB TRANSFER FROM 00000000017700004621677
C*
^


The 'M' is for Memo, which CheckBook places in the Description field by default.

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

Just wonder what other letters are used that checkbook would use during a qif file import..

For incoming transactions, CheckBook considers and imports the following:

D: Date
T: Amount
N: Number (Interpreted as Check #)
P: Payee (To/From)
M: Memo (Description)
L: Category (Type)
C: Reconciled/Cleared (QIF specifies X for Reconciled and * for Cleared, but both are interpreted as Resolved)
S: Split Category (Incorrectly interpreted as Split To/From)
E: Split Memo (Split Description)
$: Split Amount

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

Thanks Keith... you are fast...

This is very good information to have available. My bank has memo data concatenated to the To/From data. But it's not memo data that would be useful to me - just for the bank's purpose. It would make the data in my checkbook slimmer if I get the time to create some AppleScripts to remove the extra stuff.

I tried other finance/budget/checkbook software and my main problem is the inability of other software to import the transaction dates from the qif files. It is especially odd that other software can display the dates at the import qif step, but never actually import the transaction dates.

I'm really happy with my Checkbook purchase - no more will I be required to copy and paste from my bank to Excel. Although I do still copy information about outstanding transactions just because I've only been using Checkbook for a few hours and am too comfortable with my Excel formulas for displaying and manipulating that data.

If it were a perfect world, I'd much rather import data from my Palm checkbook software; which will only export csv files. I like to know exactly when things were purchased; not the date provided by the bank. For instance, I had one outstanding transaction that lasted for 6 weeks. But, if I needed to contact the company about the product I purchased, the bank's transaction date would cause confusion. I also prefer my own memos - without having to type them twice.

But knowing the above information should be helpful, because if I can find a way to massage the data from my Palm into a QIF file, I'll switch to that method. I haven't found a CSV2QIF utility.

I've you tried "Qif Master" ?

Great suggestion. That looks like it is precisely what I was hoping to find. I searched versiontracker for "QIF" previously and didn't read far enough into the description to learn that software also imported csv files before deciding to find something that was similar to a checkbook register. Hmm. If it works well, I would no longer have a need for Checkbook. But I'll put that on my to-do list to investigate sometime in the future when I'm not so content just enjoying and learning my new Checkbook purchase.

Thanks!