Avyth Moneyby Avyth

Guides by bank

How to convert an American Express statement to QuickBooks, Excel or CSV

American Express shows two years of card transactions online, which you can download as a PDF, Excel or CSV file, and it keeps billing statements as PDFs. This page covers getting a statement or transaction file from American Express, turning it into a clean CSV, Excel, QuickBooks (.qbo) or OFX file with Statement Converter, and importing it into QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop.

Statement Converter runs in your browser. Your statement is read on your own computer and is never uploaded. This guide covers American Express cards.

You might not need a converter. American Express says: "You can download your recent activity and past six billing statements to Quicken®, QuickBooks® or as a CSV file through your online account." If that covers the months you need, use its own QuickBooks download. Statement Converter helps with older months (from the PDF statements), with several statements merged into one file, or when you want a tidy spreadsheet.

Step 1: Download your statement from American Express

Transactions as a file (CSV). American Express says: "Your previous two years of transactions can be viewed electronically allowing you to sort, filter and download as a PDF, Excel or CSV file." For Statement Converter, choose CSV: it reads CSV and PDF only, not Excel, QFX, OFX or QIF files. The exact buttons aren't on that page; its software-download answer says to "select one of the options on the left side of the page." Steps vary; check your bank's help.

Sources: American Express — View transaction history and billing statements · American Express — Download transactions & statements

Statements. American Express says: "To access a PDF copy of your statement, including older statements that have been archived, select the statement you need from the list. Statements that have been archived will be available online within 24 hours." So an archived statement may take a day to appear before you can download it.

Source: American Express — View transaction history and billing statements

Step 2: Convert it with Statement Converter

  1. Open statements.avyth.com/convert and click Choose CSV or PDF statements. Pick your American Express CSV or PDF file. The free version converts one statement at a time; the paid version takes several at once.
  2. Check the preview. The page tells you how each file was read. Card files record charges and payments differently from bank accounts, so if money coming in shows as money going out, click Flip signs for that file.
  3. Under Download as, pick CSV, Excel (.xlsx), QuickBooks (.qbo) or OFX.
  4. If you picked QuickBooks (.qbo), answer Where should QuickBooks put it?
    • New account in QuickBooks: Under This is a:, choose credit card statement. Then Pick the bank this statement came from: type American Express (the list doesn't use the word Amex) in the search box. On Intuit's list (checked 2026-09-25), the card entries are American Express and American Express Web Connect, both listed for credit cards only. Intuit lists its other American Express entries for bank accounts only, so they don't appear for a card statement. Intuit's list doesn't say which one American Express's own downloads use; if you have a .qbo from American Express, the next option copies the exact ID. The list is Intuit's own, and for a card statement it only shows entries Intuit lists for credit cards. The file carries that bank's QuickBooks ID. If QuickBooks already has an account for this bank with the same account number, the transactions go there, so only convert months you haven't already downloaded from American Express. Type the same account number each month to keep the months together. If you added several statements, tick the box that says they are all from that bank and one account; otherwise convert them one at a time. If you can't find the bank, click My bank isn't listed. You won't get a .qbo file; download CSV or Excel instead. QuickBooks Desktop only accepts files for banks registered with Intuit, and we won't label your file as another bank.
    • An account I already import into from my bank: if you have a .qbo file from American Express for that account, choose it. The converter copies its bank ID and account number, so QuickBooks treats the converted file like one from American Express. That .qbo file is also read in your browser and never uploaded. If you don't have one, use New account in QuickBooks.
  5. Click the download button. Its label names the format you picked, for example Download QuickBooks (.qbo) or Download CSV.

What's free: one statement at a time, converted to CSV. $5 a month: any number of statements together, plus Excel, QuickBooks and OFX.

PDFs need a text layer. A scanned PDF (a picture of a page) can't be read.

Step 3: Import into QuickBooks Online

  1. Open Bank transactions. In the newer QuickBooks layout it's under All apps → Accounting → Bank transactions.
  2. Select the Link account dropdown, then Upload from file.
  3. Choose the .qbo file (or the CSV), pick the QuickBooks account it belongs to, and follow the prompts.

Intuit's limits: files up to 350 KB and 1,000 transactions per upload. If you hit either one, convert fewer months at a time. For a CSV upload, Intuit says the file should have 3 columns (Date, Description, Amount) or 4 (Date, Description, Credit, Debit). Statement Converter's CSV has more columns than that, so the .qbo file is the simpler route.

Source: Intuit — Manually upload transactions into QuickBooks Online

Step 4: Import into QuickBooks Desktop

  1. Go to Banking → Bank Feeds → Import Web Connect Files (or File → Utilities → Import → Web Connect Files).
  2. Select the .qbo file and click Open.
  3. Choose Use an existing account if the account is already in QuickBooks, or Create a new QuickBooks account.

Things to know:

  • Intuit says importing a .qbo file requires you to be signed in to your Intuit account inside QuickBooks Desktop.
  • In our experience (not from Intuit's articles), QuickBooks Desktop rejects a Web Connect file from a bank it doesn't recognize. That's why the converter asks which bank the statement came from and writes that bank's own QuickBooks ID from Intuit's list. It never labels your file as a different bank.
  • In our experience, Desktop can refuse to import into an account that has a live automatic bank feed. If it does, turn that feed off first (Edit Account → Bank Feed Settings → Deactivate All Online Services), or import into a new account.
  • Intuit ended online banking services for QuickBooks Desktop 2023 on May 31, 2026 ("You won't be able to download transactions"). Earlier versions were already unsupported. If you're on 2023 or earlier, plan on a supported version.

Sources: Intuit — Set up bank feeds in QuickBooks Desktop · Intuit — Fix Web Connect import errors · Intuit — Desktop 2023 discontinuation

FAQ

I need more than two years of American Express transactions. American Express says the transaction view covers the previous two years, and archived PDF statements can be requested from the statement list (they appear within 24 hours). Convert those PDFs; the $5 plan merges many months into one file.

I downloaded an Excel file from American Express. Can I use it? Not directly. Statement Converter reads CSV and PDF files. Download the CSV version instead, or use the PDF statement.

Why are my charges positive numbers? Card files often show purchases as positive numbers. Statement Converter reads text-based PDF statements and CSVs that have a date, description and amount (or debit and credit) for each transaction, tells you when it can't read a file with confidence, and says how it read each file. Flip signs fixes it if it guessed wrong.

Is my statement uploaded anywhere? No. The file is read and written in your browser. Statement Converter is an independent tool from Avyth LLC. It isn't affiliated with or endorsed by American Express, or by Intuit (QuickBooks).

Open Statement Converter →