An OFX file is a file format used for exchanging financial data. It stands for Open Financial Exchange and is used to transfer financial information between different software programs and online financial institutions. OFX files are commonly used by personal finance and accounting software programs, such as QuickBooks, Quicken, and Microsoft Money, to import and export financial data, such as transactions, account information, and bill payments.
OFX files are based on the SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) standard and use XML (Extensible Markup Language) tags to structure the data. This allows the data to be easily read and understood by different software programs and online financial institutions. OFX files typically contain data related to bank and credit card accounts, investments, and other financial transactions.
OFX files can be created and edited using any text editor, but it is generally easier to use a financial software program that supports the OFX file format. To import OFX files into a financial program, the user typically needs to select the "import" or "file" menu option and then select the OFX file they want to import. The program will then parse the OFX file and display the financial data it contains in a format that is easy to understand and work with.
OFX files can also be used to transfer financial data between online financial institutions, such as banks and brokerage firms. In this case, the user typically needs to log into their online account and navigate to the "download" or "export" section. They can then select the data they want to download and specify that it should be exported in the OFX file format. The online institution will then generate an OFX file containing the selected financial data and allow the user to download it to their computer.
Overall, OFX files are a useful way to exchange financial data between different software programs and online financial institutions. They allow users to easily import and export financial data, such as transactions and account information, and make it easier to manage and track their finances.
Use the ProperConvert to access or convert transaction files from OFX and to OFX format.
OFX files cannot be opened directly in Excel. Use the conversion tool like ProperConvert to extract transactions from OFX files and save as CSV or Excel.