What is EDGAR? Financial Reporting

By Prof. Dr. George S. Mentz, Esq.

07 January, 2007

Important Information About EDGAR

Edited and Prepared by: Prof. Mentz

EDGAR, the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system, performs automated collection, validation, indexing, acceptance, and forwarding of submissions by companies and others who are required by law to file forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its primary purpose is to increase the efficiency and fairness of the securities market for the benefit of investors, corporations, and the economy by accelerating the receipt, acceptance, dissemination, and analysis of time-sensitive corporate information filed with the agency.

Not all documents filed with the Commission by public companies will be available on EDGAR. Companies were phased in to EDGAR filing over a three-year period, ending May 6, 1996. As of that date, all public domestic companies were required to make their filings on EDGAR, except for filings made in paper because of a hardship exemption. Third-party filings with respect to these companies, such as tender offers and Schedules 13D, are also filed on EDGAR.

However, some documents are not yet permitted to be filed electronically, and consequently will not be available on EDGAR. Other documents may be filed on EDGAR voluntarily, and consequently may or may not be available on EDGAR. For example:

Form 144 (notice of proposed sale of securities) may be filed on EDGAR at the option of the filer.

Forms 3, 4, and 5 (security ownership and transaction reports filed by corporate insiders) filed before June 30, 2003 may be filed on EDGAR at the option of the filer, but those filed on or after that date must be filed on EDGAR.

Filings by foreign companies and foreign governments before November 4, 2002 either could be made on EDGAR at the option of the filer, or were not permitted to be filed electronically, but from that date on, these filings must be made on EDGAR.

It should also be noted that the actual annual report to shareholders (except in the case of investment companies) need not be submitted on EDGAR, although some companies do so voluntarily. However, the annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB, which contains much of the same information, is required to be filed on EDGAR.

Filers may choose to accompany their official filings with a copy in PDF. In order to read a PDF document, you need an Adobe Acrobat reader. Please note the following information about unofficial PDF copies on our web site:

Only documents submitted to the EDGAR system in either plain text or HTML are official filings. PDF documents are unofficial copies of filings. Filers may not use the unofficial PDF copies instead of plain text or HTML documents to meet filing requirements.

Our rules require that an unofficial PDF copy of a document be substantively equivalent to the official filing of which it is the copy. That is, the PDF document must be the same in all respects except that the PDF document may be formatted differently and may contain graphics. It is the filer's responsibility to make sure of this. The EDGAR system cannot check to make sure the two documents are the same. You should look at the official filing if you need to see what has been filed with the SEC.

Unofficial PDF copies are not subject to certain liabilities under the federal securities laws that are imposed only on filings. They are, however, subject to most of the civil liability and anti-fraud provisions. In addition, PDF copies that are prospectuses retain prospectus liability under Section 12 of the Securities Act.

Filers may choose to voluntarily submit documents in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format to accompany certain official filings. The purpose of the XBRL program is to assess the XBRL technology. XBRL documents can be opened using many common Internet browsers, however to better review the contents of the XBRL documents, you will need an XBRL specific software application. Please note the following information about XBRL documents on our web site:

The XBRL data should not be relied upon for making decisions about a company's filing. You should refer to the official filing if you need to see what has been filed with the SEC. Our rules establish guidelines for the content and format of XBRL information including which data may be provided in XBRL and the relationship of the XBRL data to the original official filing. It is the filer's responsibility to comply with these guidelines. The EDGAR system cannot automatically check to ensure compliance.

Only documents submitted to the EDGAR system in either plain text or HTML are official filings. All XBRL documents are unofficial submissions and considered furnished, not filed. Registrants may not use the unofficial XBRL documents instead of plain text or HTML documents to meet filing requirements. XBRL documents are not subject to certain liabilities under the federal securities laws that are imposed only on filings.

For Current Events Analysis

EDGAR allows you to retrieve filings made during the previous week. For example, you can check 10-K (annual) and 10-Q (quarterly) reports, proxies, and others. Simply select the desired time period and the form you'd like to see. Select "all" if you don't want to limit your search to a particular form.

About the Authors
George Mentz is a licensed attorney and is trained in Internatinal Law and Business. Mentz has an earned MBA from an AACSB Accredited Business School and holds a Doctorate Degree or Juris Doctorate Degree from an ABA Accredited USA Law School. Prof. Mentz has faculty appointments and credentials in Silicon Valley, Miami, Chicago, Denver, Hong Kong, Singapore, and The Bahamas. . Prof. Mentz is a consultant providing expertise to Fortune 100 companies in several countries. The first person in the United States to achieve "Quad Designation" Status as a JD, MBA, licensed financial planner, and Certified Financial Consultant. Prof. Mentz has authored/published over 15 Books and has been featured or quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The Hindu National, El Norte Latin America, the Finanical Times, The China Daily, & The Arab Times. His research, publications, and speeches have been syndicated into over 100 countries. Prof. Mentz has recently been elected to the advisory board of the GFF Global Finance Forum in Switzerland and the World E-Commerce Forum in London, England. He also is on the Advisory Board of The ERISA Fiduciary Guild. Mentz was Editor and Chief for the Original Tax and Estate Planning Law Review at Loyola University (A Loyola University Chartered Organization). One of the First Lawyers in the USA to be credentialed and compliant to teach law in all 50 states in law school, graduate and undergraduate colleges and universities. Holds professor faculty appointment at Graduate LLM Law Program . Prof. Mentz has established Certification and Executive Training Accreditation Programs in over 50 Countries around the world including : UK, China, Mexico, Africa, Singapore, Taiwan, USA, Bahamas, India, Russia, EU, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Vietnam, The Bahamas and more. General Counsel and Attorneyand Board of Standards Chair Prof. Mentz has recently been awarded a National Faculty Award, a Distinguished Faculty Award and a Meritorious Service Medal for Charitable Service. Prof Mentz has taught over 150 college and graduate courses in his faculty career.