Microsoft Money Tutorial: Download and Import Transactions

By Shelley Elmblad, About.com Guide

Microsoft Money Sunset Deluxe and previous Money versions no longer do automatic transaction downloads, but you don't have to enter all your transactions into account registers by hand. You can download transactions and then import them into Microsoft Money.

• MS Money will import QIF or OFX data files, which can be downloaded from any bank that provides online banking capabilities.

Importing transactions into Microsoft Money is a two-part process: first transactions are downloaded and stored on your computer as a data file, then the transactions are imported into Money. This tutorial covers exporting or downloading data from your bank or other financial institution. If you want to track several accounts, this procedure can get to be time consuming and you may want to try other personal finance software that will download your transactions automatically.

To download transactions:

1. Navigate your browser to your financial institution's web site and log in. Navigate to the account you want to use and select download transactions or something similar. Here's a tutorial that demonstrates downloading transactions.
2. When you are offered a choice of file types to download, choose OFX, QIF or Microsoft Money. Here's an example of selecting the download type.
3. You will be able to choose a date range.
• Importing data to a newly-created account: It's unlikely that you'll be able to choose further back than one year, and your bank may only go back in history by three months.
• Downloading for an existing account in Microsoft Money: When setting the date range for new transactions to import into an account that you've been using (has existing transactions), choose a beginning date that's 3 days before the last date of the current transaction. Banks don't always list transactions right away, and using this method ensures that you grab all transactions. If you already have some of these transactions in your account, it is unlikely that they will duplicate.
4. You will be asked where to save the downloaded data. The easiest place to save is in a folder you've created on your computer's desktop if you're importing for multiple accounts, or just save the file directly to the desktop for one or two accounts. These files will be deleted later.

Now, proceed to step two, Importing Transactions Into Microsoft Money Accounts.