Import data from AceMoney Classic or a bank file

Studio imports two kinds of files. Your AceMoney Classic data file (.amj) opens directly and brings your whole history into a new document; a JSON or XML export from Classic does the same, and from version 1.2 so does a Microsoft Money file (.mny). Bank files (QIF, OFX, QFX, OFC or CSV) add transactions to one or more accounts. One Import page handles them all and detects the format itself.

Before you begin

An AceMoney Classic file or export, and a Microsoft Money file, go into an empty document only. On desktop, create one with File ▸ New Document first, or import right after installing.
Importing is available on macOS, Windows and Linux, and in AceMoney Studio Mobile from version 1.2 (coming to iPhone and Android); see the platform notes below.
Studio takes a backup of the document before every import, so a wrong file can be undone from Settings ▸ Document ▸ Restore….

Open the Import page

macOS, Windows, Linux: File ▸ Import…, or Import data… on the welcome screen shown when no document is open.
First run on any platform: the Welcome to AceMoney Studio screen offers Import my AceMoney data…, which opens the same page and accepts bank files too.

The page is titled Import and headed Bring your data in. Choose Choose file… and pick an AMJ, JSON, XML, QIF, OFX, QFX, OFC or CSV file, or from version 1.2 an MNY file. Studio reads the file and moves to the right step.

Move from AceMoney Classic

The simplest way is to open your Classic data file, the .amj file AceMoney Classic saves, without exporting anything.

In Studio, open the Import page and choose Choose file….
Pick your .amj file. Studio asks only for what the file needs:
- This file has a password: enter the Password you set in AceMoney Classic, then Open. If it has letters outside the English alphabet, choose the language of the computer the file was saved on first.
- This file is tied to your AceMoney license: paste the six-line Serial Number you received when you bought AceMoney Classic. On the computer where Classic is registered, Studio may find it by itself (“Using the AceMoney license found on this computer.”).
- This file is tied to a computer: enter the Computer name of the computer where AceMoney Classic saved the file.
Check the preview and choose Import, as described under Import in Studio below.

Studio never keeps the password or Serial Number you enter. If the .amj will not open, use an export from AceMoney Classic instead, as below.

Or: export in AceMoney Classic

In AceMoney Classic open the Accounts page (F2).
Choose File > Export… and pick JSON as the file type. XML is accepted too, but a JSON export carries more: from XML, month-by-month budget limits do not come across. An XML file’s currencies come across in full: every currency in Classic’s own list, such as the Turkish lira, the Vietnamese dong, the Bulgarian lev and the Romanian leu, is added to the document, and the Preview adds a line for each currency read by its number, because a file saved by an older Classic may mean another currency by that number. An account, investment or exchange rate whose currency number is not in that list takes the document’s base currency, and the Warnings list names it.
Save the file somewhere you can reach from the computer running Studio.

The export is a plain, unencrypted copy of your finances. Keep it private and delete it after the import. The full recipe, including what to check first, is on Export and migrate to Studio.

Import in Studio

On the Import page choose Choose file… and pick the .amj file or the export. Studio recognizes it and shows the Import AceMoney data preview.
Check the Will import card: the count of accounts, transactions, payees, categories and other items found. Next to it, Stashed for a later pass (kept, not dropped) counts the items Studio cannot place yet; they are kept aside inside the document.
Look at the warnings card if there is one. Warnings list references the file could not resolve; they are reported, not dropped.
Choose Import. When it finishes, Import complete reports how many accounts and transactions were imported. Choose Go to the register.

Afterwards, compare the balances on Studio’s Accounts page with AceMoney Classic’s Accounts page. They should match. Studio also runs a document check after every import; if it finds anything, a badge appears on Settings and Document Doctor explains it.

What comes across

Accounts and account groups, transactions with their cleared and reconciled status, transfers, splits, payees, categories with their budgets and monthly budget limits, scheduled bills, tags, banks used by an account, investments with price history and investment transactions, currencies and exchange rates.

Favorite reports come across as Studio favorites (see Run reports and charts): a Classic JSON export carries only each one’s name and report, so those open with the report’s own settings, while XML and .amj exports bring the period and filters too. A favorite whose report Studio does not have, with no name, or with a name Studio already has stays with the data kept from your Classic file, and the Warnings card says so. Not imported: import rules and receipts still pending from the phone. Anything Studio cannot place is kept aside inside the document and counted on the Stashed for a later pass (kept, not dropped) card of the preview, so nothing is silently dropped. Passwords and bank logins are never in the export.

Move from Microsoft Money

From version 1.2, Studio opens a Microsoft Money file (.mny) directly, into an empty document.

On the Import page choose Choose file… and pick the .mny file.
If the file has a password, This Money file has a password asks for it: “Enter the password you set for this file in Microsoft Money. Studio uses it to open the file now and does not keep it.”
Check the Import AceMoney data preview and choose Import, as for AceMoney Classic.

Accounts, categories, payees, currencies, transactions, scheduled bills and investments come across. The preview’s warnings say what was left out or changed, and how many: for example “1 voided transaction was left out. Money counts it as nothing.”, the payment rows Money keeps for a loan outside every account, scheduled bills that repeat in a way Studio has no setting for, and transfers with no other side in the file, which arrive as a deposit or a withdrawal. An asset, liability or loan account arrives without a type. Files saved by Microsoft Money 97 or 98 cannot be read; open them in a newer Money and save them first.

Import a bank file

A file with several accounts

An OFX, QFX or OFC file that holds several statements, or that identifies its account, opens the Match accounts step.

For each account in the file, pick the Studio account it belongs to, or leave Add new account. Studio pre-matches by account number when it can.
Choose Import.
Import complete reports the transactions added, the accounts touched and the duplicates skipped.

A new account created here starts with a zero opening balance and is named after the statement, for example “checking 1234”. Edit it afterwards to set the name and the Opening balance.

A single-account file

QIF and CSV files, and an OFX file with one statement and no account details, open Import Bank Statement.

Pick the Target account.
The Statement file is already filled in; a green line confirms the format detected.
Check Import options. Date format (Month/Day/Year (US), Day/Month/Year (European), Year/Month/Day (ISO)) and Decimal separator (Period (1,000.50), Comma (1.000,50)) are marked “auto-detected” when the file settles them; change them if the preview shows wrong dates or amounts.
For CSV, set Column mapping: the Delimiter (Comma, Semicolon or Tab), then either AceMoney legacy layout (9 columns) for a file exported by AceMoney Classic or Studio, or Custom — map columns myself and pick a column for Date, Payee, Category, Number, Status, Withdrawal and Deposit (or switch on Single signed amount column and pick one Amount column) and Comment.
Read the Preview: chips count the new rows, the duplicates and the rows skipped, followed by sample rows.
Choose Confirm & Import. Import complete lists Transactions added, Duplicates skipped and, when relevant, Existing rows marked imported.

Investment transactions in a QIF file

From version 1.2. A QIF file exported from a Quicken investment account (it has an !Type:Invst section, often with a security list and a price list) imports into the Target account you pick. Studio reads Buy, Sell, dividends, capital-gain distributions (short and long term, paid or reinvested), reinvested dividends, shares in and out, and stock splits as investment transactions; interest, income, expenses, margin interest and cash in and out become ordinary cash rows. The price list is stored as prices.

Securities are matched to the ones you already have by ticker, else by name; a security the document does not have is created, with the ticker and type the file gives (the name stands in as the ticker when the file has none).
Cash follows each trade as it does for a trade you type in, at the total the file states. An action Quicken writes with an X on the end (BuyX, SellX and the like) means the file paid it from, or into, another account; Studio books that cash in the account you import into, and the preview says how many rows this concerns.
A stock split is read as Quicken writes it, the number of new shares per ten old ones (20 is two for one); the preview shows each split’s ratio so you can check it.
Importing the same file twice adds nothing: a trade the account already holds is skipped.
Left out, and said so: short sales and covers, return of capital, mid-term capital gains, reinvested interest, stock-option actions and any record with a missing security, number of shares or amount. The preview and the result name each reason and how many records it concerns. A file whose investment records are all of that kind is refused, as before.
Quicken gives the cost of shares moved in (ShrsIn) as a price; Studio stores it as the transaction’s price, but a share transfer has no cost basis of its own in Studio, so it is not counted as a purchase.

Duplicates and imported rows

Studio compares each incoming transaction with what the account already holds. A match is skipped, and when it corresponds to a row you typed by hand, that row is marked Imported instead. Imported rows show I in the register’s St (status) column; use the Imported chip in the register’s Filters to review them, then set categories and clear them as usual. A detected duplicate cannot be forced in; add it by hand if it really is a separate transaction.

Platform notes

macOS

All formats, from File ▸ Import… at any time.

Windows

Same as macOS.

Linux

Same as macOS.

Android

From AceMoney Studio Mobile 1.2 (coming to Android), the same page and formats. The way in is the Import my AceMoney data… button on the first-run screen, so import right after installing. After that, Home still offers Import AceMoney data for as long as the portfolio has no accounts. Once you have accounts, there is no import command on the phone; import on a computer instead.

iOS (iPhone and iPad)

From AceMoney Studio Mobile 1.2 (coming to iPhone and iPad), the same as Android: tap Import my AceMoney data… and pick the file in Files.

The free version and import

The free version keeps 3 accounts you can edit.

AceMoney Classic or Microsoft Money: everything is imported, every account included. The accounts past the first 3 are read-only until you unlock: you can see everything in them, but not edit them. Nothing is deleted.
A bank file with several accounts: Studio stops adding new accounts at the cap, says “The free-tier limit (3 accounts) was reached — the remaining accounts in this file were not imported.”, and shows the Unlock AceMoney Studio dialog once after the run. Everything already imported stays. Map the extra accounts to existing ones, or unlock.
A bank file matched to a read-only account imports nothing into it, and the result says so. Import it again once the account is editable.

See Free version and license.

Common questions

Can I import AceMoney Classic data into a document that already has accounts?

No. The page says the document already has accounts and disables Import. Create an empty document with File ▸ New Document and import there; you can copy anything you need afterwards.

Can I import the same AceMoney Classic export twice?

Not into the same document. If the first import went wrong, restore the “Before import” backup from Settings ▸ Document ▸ Restore… or start a new document.

Which formats does Studio import?

AMJ, JSON and XML files from AceMoney Classic; from version 1.2, MNY files from Microsoft Money; QIF, OFX, QFX, OFC and CSV from banks and other programs.

My bank only offers CSV. Will it work?

Yes. Choose Custom — map columns myself and tell Studio which column holds the date, the payee and the amount. The preview shows the result before anything is written.

Does Studio open AceMoney Classic’s data file?

Yes, and it is the simplest way to move. Pick the .amj file on the Import page; Studio asks for the file’s password, your Serial Number or the computer name only if the file needs it.

Where do my investments, budgets and scheduled bills from AceMoney Classic go?

Into the matching Studio pages: Portfolio for investments, Categories for budgets and Schedule for bills.

Can I import on my phone?

From AceMoney Studio Mobile 1.2, yes, on iPhone, iPad and Android, from the first-run screen or the Home card while the document has no accounts.

Can I move from Quicken, Mint, YNAB or another finance program?

Yes, through the files that program exports. Export each account as its own QIF file (OFX or CSV also work), create matching accounts on Studio’s Accounts page, then import each file into its account from File ▸ Import…; a bank-file import does not need an empty document. Categories arrive as names and are created as needed. A transfer between two imported accounts arrives once from each file; delete one copy. Studio does not open another program’s own data file, except AceMoney Classic’s and, from version 1.2, Microsoft Money’s.

Troubleshooting

“Couldn’t open the file.” Studio could not read the file it was given. Copy the file to a local folder and choose it again.

“Unrecognized file type”. The file’s extension is not one Studio imports. The message lists the ones it does: “Choose an AMJ, JSON, XML, MNY, QIF, OFX, QFX, OFC, or CSV file.” (MNY from version 1.2.)

“This document already has accounts.” AceMoney Classic and Microsoft Money files go into an empty document. Create one with File ▸ New Document, then import.

“That isn’t the password this file was saved with.” Check the password and try again. For a Classic file with letters outside the English alphabet, choose the language of the computer the file was saved on.

“Studio still can’t open this file.” or “This file is too large for Studio to open directly.” for a .amj file. Export it from AceMoney Classic as JSON and import that file instead.

“This file was saved by Microsoft Money 97 or 98, which Studio can’t read.” Open it in a newer Money, save it, and try again.

“This file isn’t a recognized AceMoney export.” The file is a partial export, such as an account list or a single register. In AceMoney Classic, export from the Accounts page with File > Export… and pick JSON or XML.

“This doesn’t look like a valid OFX/QFX/OFC file.” The download is damaged or is an HTML page saved with the wrong extension. Download it again from your bank.

Dates are wrong after a QIF or CSV import. The Date format guess did not fit. Restore the “Before import” backup, import again and set Day/Month/Year (European) or Month/Day/Year (US) by hand.

Amounts are a thousand times off. Switch Decimal separator between Period and Comma and check the preview again.

Every row is skipped. The file has no header or the wrong delimiter. Set Delimiter to match the file and map the columns with Custom — map columns myself.

“The free-tier limit (3 accounts) was reached”. The accounts that fit were imported. Map the rest to existing accounts on a second import, or unlock unlimited accounts.

“An account in this file is read-only on the free version, so its transactions were not imported.” You matched the file to a read-only account. Unlock AceMoney Studio, or choose one of your 3 editable accounts.