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Cannot import QIF investment file - need WIndows 7 fix RRS feed

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    "an unaccepted QIF header transaction encountered."  The solution is not for Windows 7.  Are there updated Help files for Windows 7?

    Problems Importing Investment QIF Files From Your Broker's Web Site

    Symptoms
    When you attempt to import a QIF file for an investment account, you can only select the cash account associated with your investment account, and not the actual investment account. In addition, if you select the cash account, Money displays the following Call Summary messages in the Import Complete dialog box:
      File Import

      An unaccepted QIF transaction header was encountered. Transactions under that header have been skipped. If you were trying to import an investment QIF file from your broker, please click here for further information.

    Money does not import any transactions.
    Cause
    Money attempts to bring QIF files in as bank files. Investment QIF files need to be handled in a different manner.

    Note If you have Money Essentials, you will be unable to import Investment QIF files.

    Resolution
    To successfully import investment QIF files, you can change the way Windows imports files with a .qif extension. This will allow you to save the files. You can then use the Import feature in Money to import your investment information. Please refer to the More Information section for the correct way to import a saved Investment QIF file.

    To change the way Windows downloads QIF files, follow these steps:

      1. Right-click Start, and then click Explore.

      2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.

      3. Click the File Types tab.

      4. In the Registered file types list, click Quicken Import File, and then click Edit or Advanced.

      5. Select the Confirm open after download check box, and then click OK.

      6. Click OK.

      7. Exit Windows Explorer.

    When you download a QIF file after these steps, Windows will ask you to open the file or save it to disk. For investment QIF files, choose the Save option to save the file to your hard disk or a floppy disk.

    Note Changing the method Windows uses to download QIF files will affect any QIF files you download. If you download QIF files for your bank accounts, you should always choose the option to Open these files. Only chose the option to Save when importing investment QIF files.

    More Information
    After you save the investment QIF file, import the file into Money from its current location, and then follow these steps to import the statement information into Money.

    Thursday, May 31, 2012 4:18 PM

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    What was your question?
    Friday, June 1, 2012 10:59 PM
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    When I attempt to import data to an investment I get this error.

    An unaccepted QIF transaction header was encountered. Transactions under that header have been skipped. If you were trying to import an investment QIF file from your broker, please click here for further information.

    The Help doc says Money cannot import QIF files without making the following changes.

    To change the way Windows downloads QIF files, follow these steps:
        1. Right-click Start, and then click Explore.
        2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
        3. Click the File Types tab.
        4. In the Registered file types list, click Quicken Import File, and then clickEdit or Advanced.
        5. Select the Confirm open after download check box, and then clickOK.
        6. Click OK.
        7. Exit Windows Explorer.

    Problem:
    The instructions are not for Windows 7.    

    Question:  
    Is there a way to modify Windows 7 to allow me to successfully import a QIF file of an mutual fund to an investment? 
    • Edited by edspyhill Saturday, June 2, 2012 10:48 AM
    Saturday, June 2, 2012 1:00 AM
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    Money does not import investment transactions as regular statements. However there is a way to import investment transactions if they are in the format that Money wants for that. The trick is to save the file to disk, and then File->Import->RecoverAccounts. When Money does import such a QIF file, it does not check for duplicate transactions as it does for regular statements. So you would need to make sure that the file did not contain transactions that were already in the register. You might be able to specify a date range when you download, or you might need to edit the QIF file with a text editor, such as Notepad, to trim the extra transactions.

    Money expects such a file to start with
    !Type:Invst

    I did a test. Even if the QIF file starts that way, importing the file via the file association brings up a choice of accounts that are only the cash accounts-- not the investment accounts.

    See if your financial institution is named in http://microsoftmoneyoffline.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/cal-learners-review-fidelity-401k-citi-card-and-vanguard-account-info/

    If so, then you might choose to use PocketSense to access the OFX server directly and feed the transaction information into Money. That would be the best.

     A file association is not going to get Money to import investment transactions from a QIF file. If you had the choice of  downloading OFX (no work needed) or QFX (easy association fix) files, then that would get your investment statements in just fine.

    Your error message would indicate that Money received the file, but that the QIF file is not in a form that Money handles anyway-- perhaps because it has  multiple sections starting with
    !Type:etc

    So the file would have to be modified for Money to process in that case. That could be done manually or with a little program script written for the purpose.



    Saturday, June 2, 2012 8:42 PM
    Moderator