Everything starts with the PDF. Here is where WaFd Bank keeps its statements, how far back the archive reaches, and how to pull exactly the months you need.
These are the general steps most banks follow for statement downloads; exact menu labels vary by bank and change over time.
Most accounts statement monthly, closing on the same cycle date each month. Online statement archives typically reach back several years; when a cleanup needs months beyond the online archive, the route is a statement request to the bank — branches and phone support can usually produce older PDFs or paper copies for a closed period, and those paper copies convert through the scanned (OCR) route with the same reconciliation check.
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. WaFd Bank statements typically list transactions chronologically with a running balance on deposit accounts, and print opening and closing balances for the period. From its headquarters in Seattle, Washington, WaFd Bank issues statements per account and per period through online banking.
If the account still receives paper statements, the fastest upgrade in any bookkeeping workflow is switching it to eStatements in WaFd Bank online banking (website and app) — every future month then exists as a first-generation PDF. For months already past, paper scans convert through OCR with the same balance check; scan flat, straight and at a steady resolution, and review flagged rows against the image. Avoid the middle option — printing an online statement to paper and scanning it back — which destroys the digital original for no benefit.
After signing in to WaFd Bank online banking (website and app), open the account and look for Statements and Documents (or Documents / eStatements). The step-by-step section above walks the pattern; exact menu labels change over time.
The digital PDF is always the cleanest input. A paper statement can be scanned flat at a steady resolution and converted through OCR; its result goes through the same reconciliation check, and flagged rows should be reviewed against the scan.
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.
Many banks offer a transaction download in CSV or OFX alongside the PDF statements. That covers recent activity, but the PDF statement remains the document with balances — the thing reconciliation is checked against.
Thirteen per account: the twelve months of the year plus the December statement before it, whose closing balance proves the year's opening figure. Add any account that was open for part of the year, including ones closed mid-year.
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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.