CREATING A CONFIGURATION - Example 4 (QIF)
Where possible, download your statement in OFX (Money, Active Statement) format from your bank. With this format you should not need to create a template.
If not available, use CSV, Excel or Quicken QIF format.
In this example we use QIF format.
Please note, that whilst QIF is an accepted format, we recommend using CSV whenever possible. This is because CSV is more often correctly implemented by banks than the QIF format is.
Creating a Configuration from your file
Open your QIF file in ‘Source File & Results’. Your statement should look something like this:
Because this statement is in QIF format, there are no columns like in CSV. Instead, transactions are broken into blocks and denoted by tags. Some of these are:
D indicates the Date for a transaction.
T indicates the Amount of a transaction.
P indicates the ‘Payee’ and your transaction description.
You can set the options for any available tags under the ‘Configure’ tab.
Let’s see how we’d enter this statement into the Configuration Editor: 
With QIF we are only able to set the options for some of the tags.
Cheque and exlcude rules can still be applied in the same way. Click here for an example of setting Cheque rules, and here for an example of setting Excluded rules.
N.B. You do not need to exclude lines at the beginning with QIF. Exclude rules are used only to exclude transactions.
Date: The date appears in this statement in the format dd/mm/yyyy
Amount: With QIF you will only need to set the sign that indicates a debit. In this case debits are shown by use of a negative (-ve) sign in front of the transaction amount.
Reference (Description): This is indicated by tag ‘P’ or ‘Payee’. There are no options available to set for this tag using QIF format.
One of the downsides of using QIF format is when the transaction descriptions are improperly formatted. If a transaction description is improperly formatted it is because your bank has not taken the time to correctly implement the QIF format.
Improperly Formatted Descriptions
This is an example of improperly formatted descriptions: 
There is no space between the string ‘Netbank Tfr’ and the user description.
This might appear minor, but it can make things a lot more difficult and prevent your descriptions from being interpreted correctly.
Not only does it make it harder to read and understand what transactions are for, but can make it more difficult for Budgets Get Real to automatically name and categorise your transactions for you.
For this reason, we recommend the use of CSV format over QIF whenever possible.
