Stephen L. Nelson, CPA asked:


Been a Quicken user in the past? Microsoft Money includes special utilities to ease the conversion of your Quicken data to Microsoft Money. Microsoft Money also includes import and export tools that you may, in some situations, be able to use to move financial data between Money and other programs.

Automatic Conversions of Quicken Data

When you install the Money software, the Installation Wizard looks for any Quicken

data files on your computer. It should find one, if it exists. And if it does find a Quicken

data file, the Installation Wizard suggests you convert this Quicken file to a Money

data file. Assuming you agree with Money’s suggestion, Money does the conversion

automatically. You don’t have to worry about a thing.

If for some reason you choose not to accept Money’s suggestion, or perhaps you installed

Money on a computer where Money wasn’t able to find a Quicken data file, you can use the File menu’s Convert Quicken File command to convert the Quicken data file to the Money data file.

To perform this operation, choose the File menu’s Convert Quicken File command.

When Money displays the Convert Quicken File dialog box, use its Look In box to

identify the folder holding the Quicken file you want to convert.

When Money lists the files in the selected folder, double-click the file you want to

convert.

The Convert Quicken File command converts Quicken files in the .qdb, .qdg, or .qdf

file formats. These file formats are native Quicken file formats. In other words, these

file formats—actually file extensions—are those used by Quicken files on a regular, day-to-day basis. If you want to convert a Quicken data file that’s been stored in the Quicken interchange format—this is a file that uses the .qif-file-format file extension— you need to use the File menu’s Import command.

WARNING The .qif file format is a special file format that Intuit created for Quicken

to make it easier for Quicken users to share data with other programs. In my

experience, the .qif format is not all that successful as a way to move data

between programs. I’m not sure whether this is because Quicken has trouble writing .qif files or because other programs, including Money, have trouble reading
.qif files. In any event, I caution you against using this file format carelessly. Be sure to check the data that’s imported or exported once it reaches its final destination.

Importing a Quicken or .qif file

You can import both Quicken and .qif files using the File menu’s Import command.

When you choose the command, Money displays the Import dialog box. Use the Look In box to identify the folder location of the file you want to import. After you select it, Money lists the files in the folder in the area beneath the Look In box. To import the file, simply double-click it.

After you import the file—this essentially means you create a new copy of the file that

Money can understand—using the old Quicken or .qif file, you can work with the file

in the usual way.

Export to the .qif data format

You can create a .qif file using the Money data file. You would do this presumably in

one situation: You want to move data from Money to Quicken, and to do so you need

to take your Money data file, convert it to a .qif file, and then import this file into the

Quicken program.

To perform such an export operation, take the following steps:

1. Open the Money data file you want to export.

Probably the Money data file that you want to export is already open. If it isn’t, use

the File menu to open it.

2. Tell Money you want to export the file’s information.

Choose the File menu’s Export command. Money displays the first Export dialog

box. This dialog box asks whether you want Loose QIF format or Strict QIF format. In general, you need to use the Strict QIF format. Only

the Money program understands the Loose QIF format.

3. Pick a name and location for the new file.

After you identify which of these two .qif files you want to use, click the OK button.

When you do this, Money displays the second Export dialog box. Select the folder location you want for the to-be-exported file using the Save

In box. Use the File Name box to name the file. The file extension needs to be .qif,

but you don’t have to supply the file extension. Money supplies it automatically.

4. Select the accounts you want to export.

After you have named the file, click the OK button. Money then displays a third

Export dialog box. Money uses this dialog box to ask which accounts you want to

export: regular accounts, which include bank, credit card, cash, and liability accounts;

or investment accounts, which include only investment accounts. Indicate which

collection of accounts you want to export by clicking either the Regular or Investment

option button, and then click the OK button. Money next displays a list of

accounts in the selected categories. Select the accounts you want by clicking them—

when you click an account, Money highlights it to identify the selected account—

and then click the Continue button. Money then exports the transactions in the

selected accounts, and that’s it.