How to import Quicken QIF files into TallyMint
QIF (Quicken Interchange Format) is the file format Quicken and many older desktop finance apps use to export data. If you are moving to TallyMint, a QIF import is the fastest way to bring your accounts, transactions, categories, splits, and transfers across. This guide walks through the whole process, including the import plan that lets you decide exactly where each account lands.
Step 1: Export a QIF from Quicken
Use Quicken's File → Export to create a QIF file that includes your accounts, transactions, and categories. Quicken's exact menu wording and options vary by version, so follow whatever export path your copy of Quicken offers under the File menu. Save the QIF file somewhere you can find it easily, like your Desktop.
Exporting does not change your Quicken file, so you can keep Quicken installed and re-export any time if you want to redo the import.
Step 2: Open Settings then Import
In TallyMint, open Settings and go to the Import / Export tab. Click Choose File and select the QIF you exported. TallyMint reads the file and moves you to a preview and mapping step. The same Import tab also handles OFX/OFC and CSV files, so it is where all imports start.
Step 3: Review the import plan
TallyMint shows an import plan with one row per account found in the file. Each row has:
- A checkbox to include or skip that account.
- The account in the file, with its type and transaction count.
- An "Import into" selector that chooses the target account.
TallyMint matches accounts by name: if the file's account name matches one of your existing TallyMint accounts, that account is preselected as the target. Everything else defaults to creating a new account with the name from the file. You can override any row: point it at a different existing account, or leave it set to create a new one. Every account is included by default, so importing all of them is just a matter of confirming.
Step 4: Choose how categories are handled
When the file contains categories that do not already exist in TallyMint, you will see a "Create missing categories automatically" option, which is on by default. Leaving it on means TallyMint creates those categories for you during the import, including nested category hierarchies, so your transactions land in the right place. If you turn it off, TallyMint shows a mapping table where you can point each unmatched category at an existing one or leave it uncategorized.
Step 5: Transfers between accounts
Cross-account transfers pair automatically. When you import several accounts from one file, TallyMint links the two sides of a transfer so it is recorded once as a movement between your accounts rather than twice as unrelated entries. Transfers display with the bracketed [Account Name] convention, the same way Quicken shows them, so the other side of each transfer is easy to read at a glance. If a transfer's counterpart account was not part of the import, that side still comes in as a single bracketed entry, so nothing is lost.
Step 6: Investment accounts
If the file contains investment accounts, TallyMint flags them with an Investment account badge and shows a note explaining how they import. They are included by default, just like your other accounts. Buys, sells, reinvested dividends, and stock splits come in as cost-basis transactions that build each account's holdings and value it at market value. Cash-transfer rows and share removals (the actions QIF cannot describe with enough detail to compute basis) are skipped and listed as warnings, so nothing imports with made-up tax numbers. To learn what happens after the import, see the investments guide.
Step 7: Run the import and review the results
Run the import. When it finishes, the completion screen shows a per-account table of how many transactions were imported and how many were skipped, with a total at the bottom. If anything generated a warning, for example an investment row that could not be imported, you will see a list with a button to copy all the warnings so you can review them later. Open an account and check that the transaction count and ending balance match what Quicken showed.
QIF quirks TallyMint handles
Real-world QIF files from Quicken have a few undocumented formatting habits. TallyMint's importer is built to handle them:
- Space-padded dates. Quicken sometimes pads single-digit months and days with spaces. TallyMint reads them correctly.
- Apostrophe year separators. Dates written like
MM/DD'YYare normalized during import. - Category hierarchies. Nested categories written with colons come across as parent and subcategory.
- Splits. Transactions split across several categories keep their split lines.
TallyMint reads QIF dates in US month/day/year order. If transactions land on the wrong day, the source file is likely using day/month order; re-export from Quicken with US date settings and re-import.
Other formats TallyMint imports
QIF is not your only option. From the same Settings → Import / Export tab, TallyMint also imports:
- OFX / OFC / QFX: the formats most banks use for downloadable transaction files.
- CSV: useful for spreadsheets or exports from apps that do not offer QIF. TallyMint auto-detects the column headers.
Between QIF, OFX, and CSV, you can bring history in from almost any source.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the QIF import in TallyMint?
Open Settings and go to the Import / Export tab, then choose your QIF file. TallyMint also imports OFX/OFC and CSV files from the same place.
Is it safe to import the same QIF file twice?
Yes. TallyMint skips duplicates by default, so re-importing the same file skips rows that already came in and only adds anything new.
Do my investment accounts import from a QIF?
Yes. Investment accounts in the file are included by default and flagged with a badge. Buys, sells, reinvested dividends, and stock splits import as cost-basis transactions that build each account's holdings. Cash-transfer and share-removal rows are skipped and listed as warnings so nothing imports with made-up tax numbers.