---
title: "FFIEC 031 vs 041 vs 051: Which Call Report to File"
description: "The FFIEC 031, 041, and 051 are the three call report forms. See which one a bank files by asset size and foreign offices, and why it matters."
canonical_url: https://www.bankregreports.com/blog/which-call-report-form-ffiec-031-041-051/
source: BankRegReports
published: "2026-10-30"
updated: "2026-10-30"
---

Every US bank files a quarterly [call report](/blog/what-is-a-bank-call-report/), but not the same one. There are three versions of the form, and which one a bank files is set by two facts: its total assets and whether it runs any foreign offices. Get the form wrong and you either over-report or, more commonly, spend an afternoon hunting for a line item that does not exist on your version.

Here is the short answer, then the detail. A bank with foreign offices files the **FFIEC 031**. A domestic-only bank under $100 billion files the **FFIEC 041**, and if it is under $5 billion it may instead elect the shorter **FFIEC 051**. That one sentence covers the overwhelming majority of the roughly 4,300 filing institutions in the country.

Each form has its own reference page: the [FFIEC 031](/call-report/ffiec-031/), the [FFIEC 041](/call-report/ffiec-041/) and the [FFIEC 051](/call-report/ffiec-051/), and the instruction books for all three are summarized on the [call report instructions](/call-report/instructions/) page.

## What Are the Three Call Report Forms?

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) publishes three versions of the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income, known to everyone who files them as the call report. Each carries an FFIEC form number:

| Form | Who files it | Rough length |
|---|---|---|
| **FFIEC 031** | Banks with foreign offices, banks of $100 billion or more, and advanced approaches banks | Longest |
| **FFIEC 041** | Domestic-only banks under $100 billion | Standard |
| **FFIEC 051** | Domestic-only banks under $5 billion that elect it | Shortest |

The three forms ask for the same core financial picture. The balance sheet is Schedule RC, income is Schedule RI, loans are [Schedule RC-C](/blog/how-to-read-schedule-rc-c/), and so on. What changes across the forms is the *depth* of the supporting schedules and how often some of them have to be filed.

## When Does a Bank File the FFIEC 031?

A bank files the FFIEC 031 if any one of the following is true:

- It has **foreign offices**, including foreign branches, Edge or Agreement corporation subsidiaries, or an International Banking Facility. Size does not matter here. A $400 million bank with a single foreign branch files the 031.
- It has **$100 billion or more** in total consolidated assets.
- It is an **advanced approaches** institution for regulatory capital purposes.

The 031 is the fullest version of the report because these are the banks with the most complex balance sheets. A practical tell for data users: 031 filers report many balance-sheet items on a fully consolidated basis, so their dollar figures carry the MDRM prefix **RCFD** (consolidated, domestic and foreign) rather than **RCON** (domestic only). If you join call report data across forms and treat RCON and RCFD as interchangeable, a large bank's foreign book quietly goes missing. Read the two prefixes with a first-non-null rule per line, not as one field.

## When Does a Bank File the FFIEC 041?

The FFIEC 041 is the standard form for the middle of the industry: a bank with **domestic offices only** and **less than $100 billion** in total assets. Most regional and larger community banks file it.

A 041 filer that drops below $5 billion in total assets, measured as of June 30 of the prior year, is allowed to move down to the shorter FFIEC 051. That move is an election, not a requirement. Some eligible banks stay on the 041 on purpose, usually because their holding company or their own analysts want the fuller schedule detail the 051 drops.

## When Can a Bank File the FFIEC 051?

The FFIEC 051 is the streamlined form. A bank may elect it if it has **domestic offices only** and **total assets under $5 billion**, measured as of June 30 of the prior year. The form reduces the reporting burden by removing certain line items and schedules and by moving some data from quarterly to semiannual or annual reporting.

The prior-year June 30 measurement is the part that trips people up. A bank does not flip forms the quarter it crosses $5 billion. It looks back to its total assets on June 30 of the previous year to set its form for the current year. Once a bank has grown past $5 billion on that measurement date, it transitions back up to the FFIEC 041.

For anyone comparing banks, the 051's lighter schedules are the catch. Two banks of similar size can report a metric at different frequencies if one files the 051 and one files the 041, so a quarter-over-quarter series can have gaps on the 051 side where the item is only collected semiannually. That is not missing data or a filing error. It is the form working as designed.

## Why the Form a Bank Files Actually Matters

For a preparer, the form dictates which schedules land on the desk each quarter and which validity and quality edits the software will run. For a data user, it changes what is comparable. Three practical consequences:

- **Not every line item exists on every form.** Before concluding a bank did not report something, confirm the item is even collected on that bank's form and at that frequency. A blank on the 051 is often a schedule the 051 does not carry, not a zero.
- **Consolidation basis shifts with the form.** 031 filers with foreign offices report consolidated figures; domestic-only 041 and 051 filers do not have that layer. Deposit totals, for one, combine domestic (RCON) and foreign (RCFN) components on the largest banks.
- **The [UBPR](/blog/how-to-read-ubpr-report/) smooths this over.** The Uniform Bank Performance Report recomputes ratios on a consistent basis across forms so you can benchmark a 051 filer against a 041 filer without hand-reconciling the schedules. That consistency is the reason peer analysis usually starts from the UBPR rather than the raw call report.

None of this requires you to memorize which of the roughly 4,300 banks files which form. It requires you to check the form before you trust a comparison, and to use a source that already reconciles the three.

## Finding Any Bank's Form and Filings

Because the form assignment follows public facts (asset size and foreign offices), you can determine any bank's form from its filings. BankRegReports reads all three call report forms, normalizes the RCON and RCFD line items onto one consistent schema, and presents every bank's quarterly history so a 051 filer and a 031 filer sit side by side on the same metric. If you are trying to compare banks and keep hitting blanks, the form difference is usually the reason, and a normalized source removes it.

**[Look up any bank's call report data →](/banks/)**

---

## Frequently Asked Questions

**What is the difference between the FFIEC 031, 041, and 051?**
The FFIEC 031 is filed by banks with foreign offices, banks of $100 billion or more in assets, and advanced approaches banks. The FFIEC 041 is filed by domestic-only banks under $100 billion. The FFIEC 051 is a shorter form that domestic-only banks under $5 billion in total assets may elect. All three collect the same core financial statements; the 031 carries the most schedule detail and the 051 the least.

**Which call report does a small community bank file?**
A community bank with only domestic offices and total assets under $5 billion, measured as of June 30 of the prior year, may elect the streamlined FFIEC 051. If it prefers the fuller schedules, or if it is between $5 billion and $100 billion, it files the FFIEC 041.

**What is the asset threshold for the FFIEC 051?**
Total assets under $5 billion, measured as of June 30 of the prior year. A bank that exceeds $5 billion on that measurement date transitions to the FFIEC 041.

**Does a bank with foreign offices always file the FFIEC 031?**
Yes. Any bank with foreign offices files the FFIEC 031 regardless of its asset size, because the 031 is the version built to capture foreign-office activity on a consolidated basis.

**Why cannot I find a line item on a bank's call report?**
The item may not be collected on that bank's form, or it may be reported only semiannually or annually on the FFIEC 051 rather than every quarter. Confirm the form and the item's reporting frequency before treating a blank as a zero or an omission.

**How do I compare a bank that files the 051 with one that files the 041?**
Use the Uniform Bank Performance Report (UBPR), which recomputes ratios on a consistent basis across all three forms, or a data source that normalizes the raw RCON and RCFD line items so the two banks line up on the same metric.

## About this document

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