Extract text from Audit return files (RET)
To convert RET Return files to another format, you need CaseWare Working Papers or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Enterprise & Financial Data" file type, you need software like CaseWare Working Papers or a similar tool.
The .RET file format is heavily fragmented and primarily serves as a financial or data exchange container. Its most common uses are as an Audit Review Engagement file in CaseWare Working Papers and as a CNAB return file for Brazilian banks (such as Itaú and Bradesco). It is also used for Argentinian customs declarations (AFIP Malvina), Peruvian tax retentions (SUNAT), and scientific templates in QIAGEN Rotor-Gene Q.
Opening a .RET file depends entirely on its origin. CaseWare files require their proprietary enterprise software. Brazilian CNAB files are plain text layouts parsed by enterprise ERP systems like SAP. QIAGEN templates require specialized Rotor-Gene Q Series Software.
The major disadvantage of the .RET extension is its severe lack of standardization. Because it is used by dozens of unrelated enterprise and government systems, double-clicking the file usually results in a generic system error. CaseWare files lock your financial data behind expensive software licenses. CNAB text files are positional, meaning the data is packed into fixed-width columns without headers, making them nearly impossible for humans to read without a technical specification manual.
To make this data readable or archivable, you must convert it. For CaseWare .RET files (which are actually ZIP archives under the hood), you can convert or extract them to standard ZIP to access the internal XML and document files. For CNAB banking files, convert them to CSV or XLSX to map the fixed-width fields into a clean spreadsheet. For archiving, convert extracted reports to PDF/A.
Convert.Guru analyzes your RET file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted TXT, PDF, JPG, F3Z, RESOURCE, KWI and LFS files.
If you want to convert RET file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use CaseWare Working Papers or similar software from the "Audit & Bank Return Data" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to RET, try CaseWare Working Papers or another comparable tool in the "Audit & Bank Return Data" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our RET converter.