Difference Between 10K vs 10Q
As they say, the real treasure is found in the SEC filing and they are right. The SEC filings by the company are indeed a treasure when looked with the right precision and eye for details which are often missed by the data sites like Yahoo Finance and other. The importance of these fillings for having a diligent investing decision can’t be stressed enough so to know them better, I will put forward some key differences between 10K vs 10Q:
10K Fillings:
- 10K Fillings are the detailed fillings done by the corporations to the SEC.
- Very important for equity and bond investors the detailed analysis.
- 10K Fillings are annual in nature after due to filling after the last quarter.
- 10K Fillings must be Audited before submission.
- 10K Fillings have 5 different parts Business overview, Risk Factors, Selected Financial Data (historical data), Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions (MD&A), Results of Operations and Financial Statements.
- Signed undertakings of the true nature of the submissions by the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, remuneration details of the key officers.
- Due 75 Days after the end of the fiscal year.
10Q Fillings:
- The 10Q Fillings less detailed than 10K filling.
- 10Q Fillings are quarterly in nature but are submitted only in 3 quarters as in last quarter 10K is filled by the corporation.
- They are usually unaudited as required and may be voluntarily be submitted as audited by the corporations.
- Due every 40 Days after the end of the quarter.
- It is divided into 2 parts.
- Part 1: Financial statements, Management Discussion & Analysis of financial statements and changes in accounting principles.
- Part 2: Legal proceedings, Changes in internal controls, Defaults on Senior debts or coupons or dividend payment, material important disclosures.
Head to Head Comparison between 10K vs 10Q (Infographics)
Below is the top 5 difference between 10K vs 10Q :
Key Differences between 10K vs 10Q
Although the importance and material information present in the filling of the 10K vs 10Q is very vital for all the market participants, equity investors, debt investors, traders, arbitrageurs etc. but generally they all tend to confuse the main differences between them. Here are some key differences between 10K vs 10Q.
- The 10K fillings are annual in nature due after the final quarter, 10Q are filled for 3 first quarters.
- 75 days is the maximum time given to fill the 10K form and 10Q form is filled within 40 days after the fiscal quarter end.
- Audited by external auditors is necessary by the SEC for form 10K & 10Q is acceptable without being audited but generally, big firms submit it audited.
- A detailed version of events material information in detail is present in 10K and in comparison, to 10Q.
- Annual previous 5-year data is present in 10K form and a just previous year is compared with 10Q, so less comparison can be made.
- Remuneration details of management, the business overview of current and international businesses in detail is present in 10K and 10Q offers the changes we wish to see earlier than the annual disclosures which are important to forecast the business decisions.
10K vs 10Q Comparison Table
Below is the topmost Comparison between 10K vs 10Q :
| The basis Of Comparison |
10K |
10Q |
| Days due after the Quarter ended | The 10K needs to be filled after 75 days of quarter end. | The 10Q needs to be filled after 40 days of quarter end. |
| Yearly Fillings | Annual filling (once a year) is done after the end of the final quarter. | Thrice every year after the first, second and third quarter. |
| Details of the company performance | Have more details than annual reports issued by the company far more detailed than 10Q. | Just quarterly results with some disclosures required, very less detailed than 10K. |
| Type of results published | Audited annual results are published by the corporation. | Quarterly unaudited results are published by the corporation. |
| Years of data published for comparison | The data published by the company is 5 years of its annual results to compare with. | The data is usually just compared to the previous year and last quarter. |
Conclusion
The information about the companies are present in bundles everywhere be it the financial portals or the media portals or the investor relations webpage on the company websites but something raw which is far better than sweet to digest annual reports and other media announcements is 10K & 10Q filings done by the companies as mandated by the SEC.
The information is raw, more to the point in some aspects and gets the job done. 10K is unarguably one of the best tools we have for accessing the company record published annually. It replaces the 10Q filling for the final quarter. It contains the annual results which must be audited whatsoever and contains peculiar business details even for international revenues of subsidiaries, new legal obligations, issue and maturing of bonds, remuneration details of the top management. The corporate, environmental effects on the business are very well discussed in the 10K form. The projections for future years and comparisons to the previous year is done very well in 10K as in comparison to 10Q. These also form the basis of how many brokerages view the future of the company’s stock price. The disclosure of material information, matter of subjects put to vote in front of the shareholders are also mentioned in detail in 10K.
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The 10Q filling is altogether a different ball game when accessing a company as you put to use your accounting skills to check the inventory levels, cash flows for the last quarter in order to anticipate the results and project the future results. More importantly, it is used for companies already on your radar and then developing your research on the unaudited quarterly fillings filled by the corporation. Although 10Q is detailed and more frequent but is very vital as has many disclosures and latest results than the 10K in general.
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