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SEC compliance, explained

The reporting rulebook for the people who live under it. Every deadline uses the same rules as TakePublic's Company calendar: Eastern Time, rolled past weekends and SEC holidays.

19 pages

TP DUEFiling deadlines10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, and Form 4 deadlines by filer status, all in Eastern Time. TP ROLLThe roll ruleDue dates on weekends and SEC holidays roll forward to the next business day, ET. TP STATUSFiler statusHow $75M, $700M, $560M, and $60M float thresholds set your 10-K and 10-Q clocks. TP 12B-25NT extensionsRule 12b-25: one business day to file the NT, then 15 or 5 extra calendar days. TP 2BDThe two-day ruleTwo business days after the trade, plus how Forms 3 and 5 fit the same insider calendar. TP LATEFiling lateEDGAR delinquency, shelf and listing knock-ons, the NT safety valve, and compounding risk. TP 8-K8-K triggersCommon 8-K event categories and the four-business-day deadline, ET. TP CIKEDGAR credentialsCIK, CCC, and EDGAR Next: verify in Settings, file only after counsel sign-off. TP CERTOTC certificationsOTCQX, OTCQB, and OTCID certifications: 45 days after the annual report due date. TP PROXYProxy seasonDEF 14A, PRE 14A, and Schedule 14C: forms, preliminary filings, and meeting timing. TP REG AReg A reportingThe 1-K, 1-SA, and 1-U cycle, how it differs from Exchange Act reporting, and why staying current matters. TP COSTThe cost of lateThe measured stock reaction, twelve months without Form S-3, and what venues do about a gap. TP GRACEThe grace periodFile the NT by the day after the due date for 15 or 5 extra calendar days, ET. TP SWEEPSection 16 sweepsThe 2023 and 2024 sweeps over late Forms 3, 4, and 5, the penalty ranges, and Item 405. TP SETSFive setsExchange-listed, OTC registrants, alternative reporting, 15(d) reporters and private companies. TP 12/15Registration basisWhat each section registers, the 12(g) thresholds, the 10-K cover, and what each basis triggers. TP ALTAlternative reportingDisclosure through OTC Markets under Rule 15c2-11, and why nothing is on EDGAR. TP 6490Rule 6490Notice windows, the $200 to $5,000 fee table, deficiency factors, the Daily List, CUSIP and symbol. TP LAYER 2Venue obligationsEDGAR Next confirmation, OTCIQ and certifications, Nasdaq fees and notices, NYSE 303A affirmations.

The calendar

A year as a public company

Three 10-Qs and a 10-K on statutory deadlines that do not move, plus two forms on their own clocks: Form 4 within two business days of an insider's trade, Form 8-K within four business days of a material event. TakePublic tracks every one against the SEC's calendar.

Jan·
Feb·
Mar
FORM 10-K The annual report Due Mar 31 ET. The whole year, audited, in one document.
Apr·
May
FORM 10-Q Q1 quarterly report Due May 15 ET, 45 days after the quarter ends.
OTCQB CERT Annual certification Due May 17 ET. Confirms your OTCQB company profile is current.
Jun·
Jul·
Aug
FORM 10-Q Q2 quarterly report Due Aug 14 ET, 45 days after the quarter ends.
Sep·
Oct·
Nov
FORM 10-Q Q3 quarterly report Due Nov 16 ET, 45 days after the quarter ends.
Dec
Q4 No 10-Q in Q4 The annual report covers it. December is for closing the year.
Any day: Form 4 When an insider trades Due 2 business days after the trade under Section 16(a). Describe the trade in plain English, review the structured form it becomes, and it is ready to send to EDGAR the moment your counsel signs.
Any day: Form 8-K When a material event occurs Due 4 business days after the event: a material agreement, an officer or director departure, a financing.

Dates shown are for a calendar-year, non-accelerated OTCQB filer, worked out by the same deadline rules the product uses. All deadlines are Eastern Time, the clock the SEC uses. Weekend and holiday deadlines roll to the next business day.

Custody and evidence

Your compliance record, kept to the standard a regulator applies.

Filed documents and the approvals behind them are the record an SEC examiner, your auditor or a plaintiff will ask for. TakePublic retains them to that standard.

Retention Kept for as long as we provide the Service Signed records, attestations and the audit log, kept for as long as TakePublic provides the Service and at least seven years, longer than the five years Rule 302(b) of Regulation S-T sets for signed filing records.
Audit trail Tamper-evident Every edit, review and sign-off is recorded in order and cannot be rewritten, so the record answers an examiner's question without reconstruction.
Signatures Signed to the exact version Counsel's sign-off binds to the document as signed. Change one character and it no longer applies.
Access Draft filings handled as inside information Access is by role, attorneys and administrators sign in with a second step, and every access is logged.

An independent replica of every filed record is held with a second provider. Read the security page for each control and where SOC 2 preparation stands.

Free scan

See where you stand, free.

Type a ticker, CIK or company name. The scan reads EDGAR and grades the filing record. No account.

TakePublic is a technology platform, not a law firm, broker-dealer, or auditor. Forms 3, 4 and 5 prepared in TakePublic file only after the reviewer the company designates, such as its securities counsel, signs off; any other filing prepared in TakePublic files only after a licensed securities attorney signs off.