Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Nature of Operations - Washington Federal, Inc. is a Washington corporation headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The Company is a bank holding company that conducts its operations through a federally-insured national bank subsidiary. The Bank is principally engaged in the business of holding deposits from the general public and investing these funds, together with borrowings and other funds, in one-to-four family residential mortgage and construction loans, home equity loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, multi-family and other forms of real estate loans. As used throughout this document, the terms "Washington Federal" or the "Company" refer to Washington Federal, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries and the term "Bank" refers to the operating subsidiary Washington Federal, National Association.

Basis of Presentation - The consolidated unaudited interim financial statements included in this report have been prepared by Washington Federal. All intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated in consolidation. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported in the financial statements. Actual results could differ from these estimates. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation are reflected in the interim financial statements.

The information included in this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes in the Company's 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K (“2016 Annual Financial Statements”). Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - The significant accounting policies used in preparation of the Company's consolidated financial statements are disclosed in its 2016 Annual Financial Statements. There have not been any material changes in our significant accounting policies compared to those contained in our 2016 Annual Financial Statements for the year ended September 30, 2016.

Off-Balance-Sheet Credit Exposures – The only material off-balance-sheet credit exposures are loans in process and unused lines of credit, which had a combined balance of $1,752,652,000 and $1,278,829,000 at June 30, 2017 and September 30, 2016, respectively. The Company estimates losses on off-balance-sheet credit exposures by allocating a loss percentage derived from historical loss factors for each asset class.