OFX Reader for Excel

Introduction
Thank you for your interest in the OFX Reader for Excel by Big Red Consulting.
Weve written this document to ensure you have a smooth start when using the tool and to address frequently asked questions.
We recommend printing this document for easy reference. Please review the document completely as it answers most common
questions.

Please note:
MS Excel is a registered trademark of Microsoft, Inc.
The OFX Reader for Excel and this document are copyrighted by Big Red Consulting.
QuickBooks and Quicken are registered trademarks of Intuit, Inc.

Introduction___________________________________________________________________________________________1
Overview_____________________________________________________________________________________________2
Essential Activities_____________________________________________________________________________________2
Installing the tool__________________________________________________________________2
Loading the tool in Excel____________________________________________________________2
Trial Period_______________________________________________________________________3
Purchase & Entering your Product Key________________________________________________3
Uninstalling the tool________________________________________________________________3
Moving the tool to another computer__________________________________________________3
Importing an OFX file___________________________________________________________________________________4
Options_______________________________________________________________________________________________4
Import options_____________________________________________________________________4
After import_______________________________________________________________________5
Remove unwanted columns of data______________________________________________________________________5
Add data columns____________________________________________________________________________________5

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Overview
The OFX Reader for Excel works within Excel as an Add-In. You load it into Excel in a special way which creates a special
menu item.

The OFX Reader is designed to help you importer OFX files into Excel.

To use the Add-in, first download an OFX file from your bank, credit card Company, or investment account provider.
They will often refer to these files as meant to integrate with Quicken, QuickBooks, MS Money, or other financial
application. Now theyll also work with Excel.

Look for *.OFX, *.QFX, or *.QBO files, which can all be read.

Essential Activities
This is an overview of various utility operations you may want to complete when using the tool. The later sections in this
document cover the steps for using the tool.

Installing the tool

If you downloaded the installer and ran it, and are reviewing this document from the Start menu, installation is complete.
However, you may still need to load the Add-in from within Excel.
If you downloaded the .ZIP file, installation of this Add-In is a matter of copying this document and the *.XLA file (the Excel Add-
In) to a convenient folder. We recommend something like \My Documents\BRC OFX Reader.

Loading the tool in Excel

After Installation is complete, you can then load this Add-In from within Excel. This is a one-time process. Once loaded, each
time Excel starts the tool will be available until you unload it:

To load the tool, first start Excel & make sure a workbook is open (one usually opens when you start Excel.)
Excel 2010 - 2016:
1. Select File, then Options from Excel's menu.
2. In the Options dialog, select Add-ins.
3. At the bottom of the add-ins pane, select Excel Add-ins and press Go.
4. When the Add-ins dialog opens, click Browse and navigate to the folder where you installed the addin.
5. Select the *.xla file and then OK to close the dialogs.

Excel 2007:
1. Click the round Microsoft Office Button and then click Excel Options.
2. Click Add-Ins and then in the Manage box select Excel Add-ins. Click Go.
3. In the Add-Ins available box, click Browse... & browse to the folder to which you installed this tool (see
below.)
4. Select the *.xla file & Press OK to close the dialogs.

Excel 2000 - 2003:

1. Launch Excel and then choose Tools | Add-ins... from Excel's menu.
2. Click Browse... & browse to the folder to which you installed this tool.
3. Select the *.xla file & Press OK to close the dialogs.

At this point, you should see this tool listed in the Add-In dialog, with a checkmark next to it. Press OK to close the dialog, which
will load the Add-In.
In Excel 2007 - 2016, youll see the tools access points from the Add-Ins tab. In Excel 2000 2003 youll see a new menu item
appear just to the right of Excels help menu.

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Trial Period
Once loaded, the tool is in trial mode. In trial mode. You can used it for up to 30 days. After 30 days, it can be purchased for
additional use. See the About & Purchase dialog for information on the current state of your trial.

Purchase & Entering your Product Key

To purchase the tool, select About & Purchase from the tools menu. Click the button Buy Online, and youll be taken to our
website to a starting point to make your purchase. At the end of the purchase, youll be given a temporary product key with
which to fully unlock your tool for seven days.
Once your order is complete, you will receive an email with your receipt & permanent product key.
To enter your temporary or permanent key, choose About & Purchase from the Tools menu, enter the key into the Key field, and
then press the I Accept button to unlock the product.
Note: You may copy the key from the email or web page and paste it in the key field: Use Ctrl-C (or right-click Copy) to copy the
key & then paste it into the About & Purchase dialog using the shortcut key Ctrl-V.

Uninstalling the tool

To uninstall the tool, first unload it from Excel. Unloading it is the opposite of loading it:
1. Start Excel and make sure a workbook is open (one usually opens when you start Excel.) Then choose Tools | Add-Ins
from Excels menu.
2. Remove the check mark next to this tool and close the dialog. At this point, the tool will unload & the tools menu item will be
removed from Excels menu.
3. Next, go to the Windows control panel, select Add/Remove Programs, and uninstall the tool. If you used the zip file
download, instead remove any files you copied to your hard disk.

Moving the tool to another computer

To move the tool to another computer,
1. Locate your tools key code. If you dont have a copy of the email, you can copy the key out of the tools About & Purchase
dialog.
2. Uninstall the tool using the Uninstall section above.
3. Install the tool on the new computer.
4. Enter your product key into the tool on the new computer.

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Importing an OFX file
After youve downloaded or otherwise received an OFX, QFG, or QBO file you can import it. To do this, simply pick the first item
on the tools menu, select the file and then make a choice about where to put the resulting data.

Options
There are a couple of options in the import dialog, and also other ways to customize your results.

Import options
When importing a file, you can choose between several locations to paste the file:

New workbook: This option creates a new workbook in Excel and then creates a new worksheet in it for your imported data.
After imported, you can save the workbook and use it again later.
New worksheet: This option adds a new worksheet to the active workbook (the one you can see behind the dialog.)
Last worksheet used: This option automatically finds the last worksheet used to import the data for the account information in
the OFX file. If you choose this option, new data is appended to the end of the worksheet you last imported data into.
The active worksheet: Data will be added to the worksheet visible behind the import dialog. If it is empty, new titles are written.
If there is already data on the worksheet from a previous import, then its added to the end of that data.

Note that when using the last two options, the OFX Reader depends on known column names at the top of your worksheet (the
way they were created when it first started adding data to the worksheet.) If those columns cant be found, then data isnt
appended.

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Convert Payees to Proper Case: This option converts payee and other text fields to proper case, which means the first letter
of each word is capitalized and the rest of each word is lowercase.
Import Investment Balances: When importing investment account data, security balances are summarized on either a
separate worksheet or below the account details if you pick active worksheet

After import
Remove unwanted columns of data
Besides these import options, you can also get rid of any columns of data you dont want to see. To remove a column from view,
you have two options:
1. Hide the column. Click the top of the column (the letter) then right-click and choose Hide. When you import again, the
column will stay hidden, and data will be appended to it even though it is hidden.
2. Delete the column. If you dont care about the data in the column, then just delete. When you import another OFX file
and put the data on the worksheet, the remaining columns will be auto-aligned with the exiting data.

This feature works when choosing to append data to the last worksheet used or to the active worksheet . (Note that it does not
work with the active worksheet option if importing securities and the investment balances option is selected.)

Add data columns

If you want to keep the imported data and use it over time, you may want to add data to your worksheet what isnt present in the
OFX file. For example, you might want to add a Category or Expense column. If you do this after import, and then append
more data to your worksheet later, the new data will align with exiting data in the columns the tool created. You can add the
columns in any position before, in the middle of, or after your data.

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