SEC filing types explained: 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, Form 4, 13F
U.S. public companies report to the SEC on standard forms. The 10-K is the annual report, the 10-Q the quarterly report and the 8-K the report of major events; insiders report trades on Form 4 and large investment managers report holdings on Form 13F. Every filing is public on SEC EDGAR.
| Form | What it is | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 10-K | Annual report with audited financial statements | 60–90 days after fiscal year end |
| 10-Q | Quarterly report for the first three fiscal quarters | 40–45 days after quarter end |
| 8-K | Current report of major events: earnings, executive changes, acquisitions | Generally 4 business days |
| 4 | Insider purchase, sale or other change in holdings | 2 business days |
| 13F-HR | Quarterly holdings of institutional managers with $100M or more | 45 days after quarter end |
| SCHEDULE 13D | Ownership above 5% with possible intent to influence control | 5 business days |
| SCHEDULE 13G | Passive ownership above 5% | Depends on filer type |
| S-1 | Registration statement, usually for an IPO | Before the securities are sold |
| DEF 14A | Proxy statement before a shareholder vote, including executive pay | When sent to shareholders |
| 20-F | Annual report of a foreign private issuer | 4 months after fiscal year end |
| 6-K | Current report of a foreign private issuer | Promptly after home-country release |
| D | Notice of a private, exempt securities offering | 15 days after first sale |
What is a CIK?
Every filer has a Central Index Key (CIK), a number of up to ten digits such as 0000320193 for Apple. Tickers can change; the CIK stays with the company, so use it to look up filings.
How to find a company’s filings
- Look up the CIK from the ticker on the company’s page or with the ticker-to-CIK API.
- Open the company on SEC EDGAR, or request its filings by CIK and form type.
- Open the filing index and read the primary document; keep the accession number as the reference.
Get filings as JSON
The sec-api.dev API returns filings, documents, insider trades and XBRL financial facts as JSON with the SEC source URL on every record. The free plan includes 1,000 requests a month.
curl "https://sec-api.dev/api/v1/filings?cik=320193&form=10-K&limit=5" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SEC_API_KEY"Detailed guide for each form (English)
Independent service, not affiliated with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Not investment advice.
Independent. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Data is reproduced from public SEC filings and datasets. Not investment advice.