# How Far Back Does Xero Bank Feed Go?

- Author: SimpleBankConvert (https://www.simplebankconvert.com)
- Published: 2026-10-09
- Updated: 2026-10-09
- Category: Xero imports
- Canonical: https://www.simplebankconvert.com/blog/how-far-back-does-xero-bank-feed-go

> How far back does a Xero bank feed go when you first connect it, why it varies by bank and how to import earlier statements without overlaps.
A Xero bank feed goes back at most 12 months when you first connect it, and only if your bank shares that much history. Some banks send less, and some send none before the connection date. Anything beyond how far back the feed goes has to come in as imported statement files that stop the day before the feed starts.

## How far back can a Xero bank feed reach on the first day?

On the day you connect, Xero asks you to confirm a start date, and its own help page says you can import up to 12 months of transactions. That is the ceiling. The real reach is whatever your bank releases through the feed, which may be shorter.

[Xero's guide to connecting your bank](https://central.xero.com/0/article/Connect-your-bank-to-Xero) describes the start date step and the 12-month limit. Two details from that step matter here:

- For an account that is new to Xero, you choose the date yourself.
- For an account that already has imported statements, Xero fills in the date of the last imported transaction. Leave it, because moving it earlier asks for lines the account already holds.

### What the start date does not do

The start date is a request, not a guarantee. For example, if you ask for January 1 and the bank only releases 90 days of feed data, the first line will be dated about three months before the day you connected. Xero will not warn you about the shortfall. You find out by opening the account and looking at the oldest statement line.

## Why Xero feed history differs from one bank to the next

The history a feed brings depends on the bank and on the type of feed, because Xero only receives what the bank's connection makes available. Xero's US page on connecting a bank says so plainly: whether you can pull historical data when you set up a feed "depends on your bank".

[Xero's page on connecting your bank account](https://www.xero.com/us/accounting-software/connect-your-bank/) adds that if the option is not offered, you can upload the data from a PDF instead. In practice, three things limit the reach:

- **The bank's own retention for feed data.** A bank may keep years of statements online but only release a short window through its feed.
- **The feed type.** A direct feed and a third-party feed for the same bank can behave differently.
- **The account type.** A savings account or a card at the same bank may not have a feed at all.

QuickBooks Desktop users see a similar limit with bank downloads, where a refused request often surfaces as an error code rather than as missing history. [QuickBooks error OL-393](/blog/quickbooks-error-ol-393) is one example of that, and the fix there is different from anything in Xero.

## Can a Xero feed fetch older history after it has started?

Not through the feed itself. A running feed sends transactions forward from its start date, and Xero treats older gaps as a job for files. [Xero's page on manually importing bank statements](https://central.xero.com/0/article/About-manually-importing-bank-statements) names this case: a connected feed that is missing transactions dated before it started.

That makes the start date a one-time choice. If you set it too late, the fix is not to reconnect the feed, which risks a second connection and duplicate lines. The fix is to import the missing months from statement files into the same account.

## Statement files for the months before the Xero feed start date

Everything older than the feed's first line goes in as statement files, imported into the same Xero account the feed uses. Download the earliest statements first, work forward in date order, and stop at the day before the feed's first transaction. OFX is the easiest format when the bank offers it.

Your choice of file usually depends on what your bank's website offers for older periods:

- **OFX or QFX downloads.** These go in without column matching. The guide to [importing an OFX file into Xero](/blog/import-ofx-file-into-xero) covers the steps.
- **QIF downloads.** Some banks still offer QIF for older periods. [Importing a QIF file into Xero](/blog/import-qif-file-into-xero) explains the date-format prompt to watch for.
- **CSV exports or hand-built files.** These work for any period, as long as the columns are right. [The columns Xero wants in a statement CSV](/blog/xero-bank-statement-import-csv) lists them.
- **PDF statements only.** Old statements are often PDF-only. Convert them to CSV first, or use Xero's own PDF import if your Xero organisation is in the US or Canada.

SimpleBankConvert is being built to turn a PDF statement into a Xero-ready CSV, which suits a backlog of old monthly statements. You can [join the early access list](/get-started) now.

## Old statements that overlap the Xero feed's first line

The most common mistake at the join is importing a statement that runs past the day the feed began. A monthly statement rarely ends on the same day the feed starts, so its last few lines duplicate the feed's first few. Trim each file at the boundary before you upload it.

### A worked example

These dates are an example. A bakery connects its feed on September 15, 2026, and the bank only sends 60 days of history:

| Source | Covers | Action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Opening balance in Xero | As at December 31, 2024 | Entered once |
| Statement files, 2025 | January 1 to December 31, 2025 | Import all twelve months |
| Statement files, 2026 | January 1 to July 16, 2026 | Import, and trim the July file |
| Bank feed | July 17, 2026 onward | First feed line is dated July 17 |

The July statement runs to July 31. If it goes in whole, July 17 to 31 appears twice. Delete those rows from the file before the upload, and the files meet the feed with no gap and no overlap.

### Checking the join

After the last file is in, compare the statement balance in Xero on the day before the feed started with the balance on your bank statement for that day. If they match, the history is complete. If they differ by the amount of one or two transactions, look at the days on either side of the join first.