1

I'm looking at an API of financial reports, and I am noticing a "fillingDate" and an "acceptedDate".

"date" : "2019-09-28",
"symbol" : "AAPL",
"fillingDate" : "2019-10-31 00:00:00",
"acceptedDate" : "2019-10-30 18:12:36",
"period" : "FY",
"revenue" : 260174000000

Also, when looking at an earnings-calendar API, I see another date field:

date    "2019-10-30"
symbol  "AAPL"
eps 3.03
epsEstimated    2.8961268000000002
time    "amc"
revenue 64040000000
revenueEstimated    63929939186

My question is, which date field - fillingDate or acceptedDate, would be the date where the financial report is released to the public? I am assuming that the earnings-calendar date is an estimated release date because in many cases, the date in the earnings-calendar does not line up with fillingDate or acceptedDate.

Flux
  • 17,301
  • 12
  • 74
  • 138
Frank
  • 113
  • 3

1 Answers1

0

Which is the day the quarterly reports are released to the public - filling (sic.) date or accepted date?

Answer: filing date.

References

I did not know the answer to your question before I attempted to answer it. As such, I might have answered incorrectly. This is how I found the definitions of the terms used, and arrived at the answer:

Definition of "filing date"

According to the EDGAR Filer Manual (Volume II), section 10.1 Filing Date of Electronically Transmitted Submissions:

If you begin direct transmission of a live submission after 5:30 P.M. Eastern time and the submission is accepted, it will have a filing date as of 6:00 A.M. the next business day. If you start direct transmission at or before 5:30 P.M., it will receive that day's filing date if it is accepted. [...]

This definition of "Filing Date" ultimately comes from 17 CFR ยง 232.13 (a) (2). Note that there are a number of exceptions (e.g. Final Rule: Mandated Electronic Filing and Website Posting for Forms 3, 4 and 5, etc.).

Definition of "accepted"

Appendix F: GLOSSARY OF COMMONLY USED TERMS, ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS of the filing manual defines "accepted":

ACCEPTANCE REVIEW Procedural checks performed by EDGAR to determine whether a filing meets certain minimum filing requirements. The requirements may relate to the composition and completeness of the submission package, as well as to the particular type of filing being made.

ACCEPTED The term that describes a filing that has successfully passed acceptance review.

In other words, when direct transmission finishes, the transmitted filing is automatically checked, and if the filing passes some automated tests, it is "accepted".

What happens if the filing is submitted and accepted after 5:30 pm (but before 10 pm [SEC closing time])

In section 3.2 Electronic Form Types by Act of the filing manual:

Normally filings received after 5:30 P.M. Eastern time will receive a filing date of the next business day and will not be disseminated until the next business day.

Note that there are many exceptions.

Useful read: "All About EDGAR" (and Exhibits)

Flux
  • 17,301
  • 12
  • 74
  • 138