Citi CSV to QBO

Citi splits charges and payments across two columns and includes pending rows; the converter below merges the columns, drops the pending transactions and writes a QuickBooks .qbo file in your browser.

Drop a CSV or Excel statement here

.csv, .txt, .xlsx and .xls — or choose a file

Your file never leaves your browser.

The Citi Credit Card preset is selected for you. Switch the Format dropdown to Auto-detect if you are converting a file from somewhere else.

How to export a CSV from Citi

  1. Sign in at citi.com and open the card account. Above the transaction list there is an export or download control, often shown as a small arrow icon.
    Screenshot: citi-export-1
    The Citi account activity page with the export control above the list.
  2. Choose the statement period or a custom date range. Citi also offers "since last statement", which is the one to avoid when you are reconciling a closed month.
  3. Select CSV as the format and download. The file is usually named after the account and the date range.
    Screenshot: citi-export-2
    The export dialog with CSV chosen as the file type.
  4. Drop the file into the converter on this page. The Citi preset is already selected, so the Debit and Credit columns are merged for you.
  5. Check the preview: charges should be negative, payments and refunds positive.
  6. Download the .qbo file and import it into QuickBooks Online as a credit card account.

Online banking screens change; if a label has moved, look for a download or export control above the transaction list.

Known quirks of the Citi export

  • Citi exports five columns: Status, Date, Description, Debit and Credit. Some accounts add a Member Name column for authorised users, which the converter ignores.
  • Rows with a status of Pending are skipped by default. Pending transactions change amount and description once they post, so importing them is the fastest way to end up with duplicates that do not match. If you need them, the column mapper lets you convert the file without the preset.
  • Debit means a charge and Credit means a payment or refund. The converter combines them into a single signed amount — credit minus debit — which is what QuickBooks expects in a single amount column.
  • The file identifies the institution with Intuit bank id 1131 and the organisation name Citibank. Neither has been confirmed against a live QuickBooks Online import yet; if the file is refused, try another id in the account settings.

Import the .qbo file into QuickBooks

  1. Open the upload screen. In QuickBooks Online, go to Transactions, then Bank transactions, and choose Upload from file (on older layouts: Banking, then the arrow next to Update, then File upload).
  2. Pick the .qbo file. Drag the .qbo file the converter produced into the drop area and select Continue.
  3. Choose the QuickBooks account. Select the bank or credit card account the transactions belong to, or add it first. The account type has to match the one used when converting: a card statement belongs to a credit card account.
  4. Let QuickBooks read the file. Web Connect files carry their own column layout, so there is no column-mapping screen — QuickBooks reads the dates, amounts, payees and memos straight from the file.
  5. Review and accept. The transactions land in the For review tab. Categorise or match them there; nothing hits the books until you accept them.

QuickBooks Online accepts up to 1,000 transactions per upload. Larger statements are split automatically into numbered files by the converter. Import errors are covered in the import error guide.

Split columns, one signed amount

Bank exports fall into two families: one signed amount column, or separate debit and credit columns. Citi belongs to the second family, and the conversion rule is simple — subtract the debit from the credit. A charge in the Debit column becomes a negative amount; a payment in the Credit column stays positive. The result is one column of signed numbers, which is what a Web Connect file carries.

This matters when you check the preview. On a credit card register in QuickBooks, spending should reduce what you owe less intuitively than on a bank account, so read the preview by sign rather than by feel: purchases negative, payments positive.

Pending rows are a trap, not a feature

Citi shows pending authorisations in the export. They are useful on screen and harmful in a ledger: the merchant name is often a payment processor rather than the shop, the amount can change when a tip or a hold settles, and the date moves. The converter drops them, so what you import is the settled ledger. Run the export again a few days later and the settled versions come through normally.

Reconciling a closed statement

If you are reconciling a specific statement rather than catching up, export by statement period rather than by date range. Citi statement periods rarely align with calendar months, and a date-range export will clip the first or last day of the cycle — which is exactly the kind of difference that costs an hour at reconciliation time.

Frequently asked questions

Why are there two amount columns in my Citi export?
Citi keeps charges and credits apart so each column holds positive numbers. QuickBooks wants one signed amount, so the converter subtracts the debit from the credit for each row. A $40 charge becomes -40.00 and a $40 refund becomes 40.00.
What happens to pending transactions?
They are left out. A pending row has not settled, so its amount and description can still change; importing it and then importing the settled version is the classic way to get two copies of one purchase.
Should this be a credit card account in QuickBooks?
Yes, for a Citi card. Credit card accounts use a different message block inside the .qbo file than bank accounts, and the wrong one is the most common cause of a rejected import.
Does Citi offer a direct QuickBooks download?
Citi supports bank feeds for some products, but the available history is limited and not every account type offers a Web Connect file. Converting the CSV covers any period the export covers.
Is my card statement uploaded?
No. Everything happens in this browser tab — the CSV is read from your disk and the .qbo is built in memory.

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Last updated .