int counter1 = 0; // this will go up to 3, for the first array
int counter2 = 0; // this will go up to 8 for each array, then reset
while (counter1 < 3)
{
    myfile >> account[counter1][counter2];
    counter2 ++;
    if (counter2 = 8) // reset the counter to read in the next set
    {
        counter2 = 0; // reset to read from the beginning
        counter1 ++; // increment counter1 to read the next set
    }
}

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <conio.h>

using namespace std;
int main() // starting point of program - the main function is always called this name
{
    // Variable declarations

    float account [3][8];
    ifstream myfile("finances.txt");
    int counter1 = 0;
    int counter2 = 0;



    if (!myfile)
    {
        cout << "The file could not be opened.";
        getch();
        exit(1); //an error code to denote what has gone wrong
    }

    while (counter1<3)
    {
        myfile >> account[counter1][counter2];
        counter2++;
        if (counter2==8)
        {
            counter2=0;
            counter1++;
        }
    }
    myfile.close();

    for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
    {
        for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++)
            cout << account[i][j] << " ";

        cout << endl;
    }


    // Finally, wait for a key to be pressed
    getch();

    return 0;
}