Comparison

IIF to Excel vs Big Red Consulting: Instant Convert Alternative

Need to extract all transaction fields from quickbooks desktop iif files into a formatted excel spreadsheet. account, class, and all other fields stay in their own columns. your data never leaves your browser? Big Red Consulting provides QuickBooks file conversion tools and CSV/Excel to QuickBooks importers. SpreadsheetBroccoli is better for converting CSV files to accounting formats with browser-based tools and broader format support.

Try IIF to Excel yourself

Why Convert IIF to Excel?

IIF Files Can't Open in Excel

IIF files use QuickBooks Desktop's proprietary format with special headers: - Not standard CSV: Opening in Excel gives garbled data with TRNS/SPL markers - Complex structure: Multi-row transaction blocks need proper parsing - Data locked in: QuickBooks Desktop data needs extraction to be useful Converting to Excel gives you a properly formatted spreadsheet with clean columns.

What This Tool Does

We extract every field from your IIF file into a formatted Excel spreadsheet with bold headers, auto-sized columns, and all 9 fields separated into their own columns including Account and Class.

Quick Comparison

Feature Comparison

Feature	Big Red Consulting	SpreadsheetBroccoli
Flexible pricing (pay-as-you-go)
Try without signup
No setup or learning required
Data stays on your device	Desktop-based
Works on any device
Error detection before upload
Fast email support
No API tokens required
No risk of data corruption
Full data transparency

What Big Red Consulting Does Well

To be fair, Big Red Consulting has genuine strengths:

QIF to OFX/QBO/QFX converter
CSV/Excel to QuickBooks importer (IIF Transaction Creator)
QuickBooks Enterprise to Pro/Premier conversion
Local file processing
Next-day or same-day conversion
Multiple QuickBooks tools
Direct Deposit File Creator

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Big Red Consulting if: You need QuickBooks file conversion You want CSV/Excel to QuickBooks import You need Enterprise to Pro/Premier conversion You want desktop software You prefer QuickBooks utility approach

Choose SpreadsheetBroccoli if: You need CSV file conversion to accounting formats You want QuickBooks and Xero support You need browser-based conversion tools You want instant results without software installation You need broader format support

Ready for the simpler approach?

Try IIF to Excel yourself - no signup required.

Convert Your First File

Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on your needs. Big Red Consulting is built for businesses that need advanced automation and accounting integrations. If you're a small business doing monthly imports or occasional conversions, SpreadsheetBroccoli's simpler approach may be a better fit - no subscriptions, no setup, just results.

Not for the same transactions - you'd risk double-counting. However, you could use Big Red Consulting for ongoing automation and SpreadsheetBroccoli for one-off historical imports or quick ad-hoc conversions outside your normal workflow.

Big Red Consulting typically requires 30-60 minutes of initial setup (account creation, API connections, mapping configuration), then runs automatically. SpreadsheetBroccoli takes under 2 minutes per conversion - upload, preview, download. Choose based on whether you need ongoing automation or quick occasional conversions.

Pick a clean cutoff date (end of month works best). Let Big Red Consulting finish processing that period, then disconnect. Export your data from the source platform and use SpreadsheetBroccoli for conversions going forward. The first month needs careful reconciliation to ensure no gaps or duplicates.

Both produce accurate results when used correctly. Big Red Consulting uses API connections for automated data sync. SpreadsheetBroccoli processes the exact file you provide and shows you a preview before finalizing. Our pre-upload validation catches errors before they reach your accounting software.

Big Red Consulting typically charges monthly subscriptions regardless of usage. SpreadsheetBroccoli offers flexible options: free preview before commitment, pay-per-conversion, credit bundles for volume, or subscriptions for heavy users. You only pay for what you actually use.

Big Red Consulting offers various support tiers depending on your plan. SpreadsheetBroccoli provides fast email support to all users. Our file-based approach also means simpler troubleshooting - if something looks wrong, you can see exactly what data was converted in the preview.

Big Red Consulting processes data on their servers via API connections. SpreadsheetBroccoli processes files entirely in your browser - your data never leaves your device. There's no account to hack, no API tokens to secure, and no data stored on external servers.

SpreadsheetBroccoli is ideal for small businesses doing their own bookkeeping, occasional users who need monthly or quarterly imports, and anyone who wants instant results without learning a new platform. Big Red Consulting is better suited for larger operations with dedicated bookkeepers who need ongoing automation.

Big Red Consulting offers automated syncing, real-time connections, and features like multi-channel consolidation or advanced accounting automation. SpreadsheetBroccoli focuses on doing file conversion exceptionally well - fast, private, and simple. We're not trying to replace full accounting platforms, just make conversions effortless.

Absolutely not. This is a major security advantage of SpreadsheetBroccoli over Big Red Consulting. Big Red Consulting requires you to hand over API keys or login credentials, creating a permanent security vulnerability. We only touch the specific file you upload, process it in your browser, and forget it immediately.

It works until it breaks. Automated integrations often fail silently when platforms update their APIs, leaving you with weeks of missing or duplicated data to clean up manually. SpreadsheetBroccoli is deterministic: you verify the file right now, import it right now, and you know it's done correctly. It turns "background anxiety" into "finished work."

You can, but the cost is validation and edge cases. AI often hallucinates math or format structures, and free scripts rarely handle messy real-world data (missing SKUs, strange currency formats, tax anomalies). We have battle-tested validators specifically for Big Red Consulting exports that catch issues a generic script will miss.

Banking → Excel Data Ecosystem

All available data flows from Banking to Excel

Banking IIF QuickBooks Transactions Intuit Interchange Format for QuickBooks Desktop (tab-delimited)

→

Excel IIF Bank Export (Excel) All IIF transaction fields exported as separate Excel columns with formatting

DATE → Date TRNSTYPE → Type ACCNT → Account

QuickBooks Desktop data migration, banking analysis, custom reporting Current tool

Banking OFX/QFX/QBO Bank Transactions Bank and credit card transactions in Open Financial Exchange format

→

Excel OFX Bank Export (Excel) All OFX transaction fields exported as separate Excel columns with formatting

DTPOSTED → Date TRNTYPE → Type TRNAMT → Amount

Banking data analysis, reconciliation, custom reporting