We report the phase and microstructure evolutions of metal trifluoroacetate (TFA) precursor films in the TFA-MOD process of YBCO films on the LAO (100) substrates. It was confirmed that the precursor films were decomposed into $Y_2O_3$, $BaF_2$, and CuO nanoparticles after the initial heat treatment up to 400$^{circ}C$. After a subsequent heat treatment at higher temperatures ranging from 700 to 850$^{circ}C$ for 2 h, these nano-sized phases are converted into YBCO films. High Jc(77K, sf)-YBCO thin films (over 2 MA/$cm^2$) were successfully fabricated with firing temperatures ranging from 775 to 850$^{circ}C$ for 2 h, where films were composed of dense microstructures with large grains.