Statements first, spreadsheets second. What follows is how FirstBank files its statements, how to download the exact periods a job requires, and how those PDFs become verified data.
These are the general steps most banks follow for statement downloads; exact menu labels vary by bank and change over time.
For catch-up work the limiting factor is rarely conversion — it is archive depth. Online banking usually keeps a rolling multi-year archive of statement PDFs. Older than that, request research copies from the bank; if they arrive as paper or scans, the converter reads them with OCR and reconciles the result against the printed balances exactly as it does for digital PDFs.
Expect the standard regional-bank set: monthly statements for checking and savings with opening and closing balances and a running balance on most layouts, card statements on the Previous / New Balance pattern where the bank issues its own cards, and periodic statements for CDs and money market accounts. Each type converts separately, against its own balances. FirstBank typically prints the period's opening balance first, works through the activity in date order, and closes with the ending balance the transactions must reproduce. Headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado, FirstBank issues every account's statements through the same online banking platform.
Online access usually ends when an account closes, and with it the self-serve archive. Former customers can typically still obtain statement copies by request — expect identity verification and a research turnaround rather than an instant download. Order them before the cleanup deadline, not during it. When the copies arrive as paper or scans, they convert through the OCR route and are reconciled against their printed balances like any other statement.
After signing in to FirstBank online banking and the mobile app, open the account and look for Statements & Documents (or Documents / eStatements). The step-by-step section above walks the pattern; exact menu labels change over time.
Separate months. Each monthly statement carries its own opening and closing balances, which is what the verification works from — and month-by-month files import in order without surgery.
Yes — that is the normal flow. Download the PDFs and send them as issued; your bookkeeper converts and verifies them. Never send online banking passwords; statements are all a bookkeeper needs from the bank.
Recent statements in online banking are self-serve. Research copies of older or closed-account statements are a bank service and policies vary — ask before ordering a long history, and check the online archive first.
Statements close on a cycle date set by the bank, which is often a few days before or after month end. Work in statement periods when you import — the closing date on the document is the period's end, whatever the calendar says — and let the balance chain, not the calendar, tell you whether a month is missing.
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Your first conversion is free — no card, no sign-up — and every result is checked against the statement itself before you download it.