IIF format reference

IIF (Intuit Interchange Format) is QuickBooks® Desktop's tab-separated text format. Solid Accounting imports IIF transactions through File → Import → Import Transactions… and exports your chart of accounts and transactions as IIF from the Reports window.

IIF is for one-off transaction batches — a file someone exported for you, or a set of transactions from another system. To move a whole QuickBooks Desktop company, use the migration tool instead: see Migrate from QuickBooks Desktop. QuickBooks Online doesn't export IIF.

Import an IIF file

File → Import → Import Transactions… → Import from file, and pick the .iif file. Import IIF files separately from PDF and CSV files.
Map Accounts. Every QuickBooks account name the file uses is listed. Match each one to an account in your company file, or create a new one. Solid Accounting remembers these matches for the next import from the same source.
Review and post. Entries whose lines don't balance are held so you can fix them before posting.

What an IIF import brings in: the transactions (TRNS / SPL / ENDTRNS blocks). The !ACCNT block is used only as a hint for each account's type. Customer, vendor, item, class, and employee lists in the file (!CUST, !VEND, !INVITEM, !CLASS, !EMP, …) are skipped without error — add those records yourself in Contacts and Items & Services.

Format structure

IIF is tab-separated. Rows starting with ! declare the columns for the rows that follow. A transaction is one TRNS row, zero or more SPL rows, and an ENDTRNS row:

!TRNS  TRNSID  TRNSTYPE  DATE       ACCNT                NAME           AMOUNT  MEMO
!SPL   SPLID   TRNSTYPE  DATE       ACCNT                NAME           AMOUNT  MEMO
!ENDTRNS
TRNS   1042    CHECK     04/15/26   Operating Checking                   -642.18 April utilities
SPL    1043    CHECK     04/15/26   Auto Loan Payable                     485.32 Principal
SPL    1044    CHECK     04/15/26   Interest Expense                      112.86 Interest
SPL    1045    CHECK     04/15/26   Loan Escrow                            44.00 Escrow
ENDTRNS

The TRNS row is the bank (or main) side; each SPL row is an offsetting line. The TRNS and SPL amounts on one transaction add up to zero.

An optional account list looks like this:

!ACCNT  NAME                  ACCNTTYPE   DESC
ACCNT   Operating Checking    BANK        Main checking account
ACCNT   Service Income        INC

Field reference

Field	Notes
`TRNSID` / `SPLID`	QuickBooks' own transaction ID, kept with the imported entry
`TRNSTYPE`	`CHECK`, `DEPOSIT`, `INVOICE`, `BILL`, `PAYMENT`, `TRANSFER`, `GENERAL JOURNAL`, etc.
`DATE`	`MM/DD/YYYY`, `MM/DD/YY`, `MM-DD-YYYY`, or `YYYY-MM-DD`
`ACCNT`	Account name; subaccounts use `Parent:Child`
`NAME`	Customer or vendor name, used as the payee
`AMOUNT`	Positive or negative decimal
`MEMO`	Free text

Other columns (CLEAR, CLASS, DUEDATE, QNTY, INVITEM, …) are ignored. In particular, cleared status and classes don't come across through IIF.

Common ACCNTTYPE codes and the account types they suggest: BANK → bank, AR → accounts receivable, OCASSET → other current asset, FIXASSET → fixed asset, AP → accounts payable, CCARD / OCLIAB → current liability, LTLIAB → long-term liability, EQUITY → equity, INC / EXINC → income, COGS → cost of goods sold, EXP / EXEXP → expense.

Encoding and dates. Files are read as UTF-8, falling back to Windows-1252 (QuickBooks' usual encoding). Dates must be month-first; if your QuickBooks export came out day-first (15/04/2026), export again with U.S. regional settings.

Multi-currency. IIF carries only base-currency amounts. There's no currency code or exchange rate in the format.

Export to IIF

In the Reports window, the IIF button saves solidaccounting_export.iif with:

your active chart of accounts as an !ACCNT block, with QuickBooks account-type codes, and
your transactions in the report's date range as TRNS / SPL blocks.

Use it to hand data to someone who works in QuickBooks Desktop, or to another program that reads IIF.

Common errors

"The final IIF transaction is missing ENDTRNS." The file was cut off or edited by hand. Export it again.
An entry doesn't balance. The TRNS and SPL amounts for that transaction don't add up to zero — usually a damaged export. It's held in the review step; fix the lines there or correct the file.
"unknown tag" warnings. A row starts with a tag Solid Accounting doesn't read. The rest of the file still imports; the warning names the line.
Wrong dates. The file is day-first. Export again with U.S. regional settings.